US President Donald Trump has hosted El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele at the White House as the US seeks to deport more immigrants to a notorious maximum-security prison in the Central American country.
The meeting comes as El Salvador in recent weeks has accepted from the US more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants whom the Trump administration has accused of gang activity and violent crimes – even though it has offered little evidence for its claims.
These people have been placed inside El Salvador’s notorious maximum-security gang prison just outside of the capital, San Salvador.
Among them is Maryland resident, Kilmar Abrego Garcia who the administration admits was wrongly deported but has not been returned to the US, despite court orders to do so.
The debacle comes as the Trump administration has sought to make good on a campaign pledge to surge deportations, with Trump framing undocumented migration in the US as an “invasion.”
Authorities have increased arrests, but expulsions have been more difficult, with most cases slowly making their way through backlogged immigration courts.
In March, the Trump administration sought to fast-track the process by invoking the 1789 Alien Enemies Act, which allows for the expulsion of foreign nationals during wartime.
Rights groups say the law denies individuals due process, with a court filing indicating some of the 237 men deported under the law, alongside Abrego Garcia, were targeted solely for having tattoos or clothing believed to be associated with Latin American gangs.
Speaking at the Oval Office ahead of their meeting, Trump hailed Bukele’s acceptance of US deportees in its prisons while Bukele said, “We’re very happy, and we’re very eager to help.” He added, “We know that you have a crime problem, a terrorism problem.”
El Salvador agreed to house violent US criminals and receive deportees of any nationality, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in February, in an unprecedented – and legally problematic deal – that has alarmed critics and rights groups.
Both Trump and Bukele hailed the El Salvadorean leader’s crackdown on crime, which has seen mass arrests in the country over the last three years.
Bukele has relied on a prolonged state of emergency in the widespread sweeps, which rights groups say has resulted in rights abuses, deprivation of due process, and arbitrary detention.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Attorney General Pam Bondi again reiterated the position that federal courts cannot determine how the executive branch conducts foreign relations.
She said it was up to El Salvador whether Abrego Garcia would be returned and not the US.
She again alleged that Abrego Garcia had been a member of the MS-13 gang.
Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have said the allegation is based on the unreliable statements of an informant. Abrego Garcia was granted reprieve from deportation by an immigration court in 2019.
When asked, Bukele said he “did not have the power” to return Abrego Garcia to the US.
Trump Open To Deporting US Citizens Considered Violent Criminals
Also, Trump disclosed that he is open to deporting US citizens who are considered violent criminals.
The US President said in the Oval Office alongside El Salvador President, Nayib Bukele, “If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem.”
He added that Attorney General Pam Bondi is studying the laws “right now.”
“Why do you think there’s special category of person? They’re as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones too.”
Donald Trump
Trump said that he’s “all for it” because, he claimed, with the current partnership with Bukele the US can do things “for less money and have great security.”
Additionally, Trump said that he will deport as many “dangerous” undocumented immigrants as possible to El Salvador, urging President Nayib Bukele to build more mega-prisons.
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