Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary warns migrants from Bukele’s mega-prison: ‘We will hunt you down’

El Salvador’s notorious maximum-security mega-prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), where prisoners are barred from going outside and never have visitors, received a high-profile visit on Wednesday. Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security under Donald Trump, toured the prison and met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as part of her visit to the Central American country — the first stop on a tour that will also take her to Colombia and Mexico.

On this first leg of her Latin American trip, Noem demonstrated her alliance with Bukele at the very location where more than 200 Venezuelans, deported from the United States in mid-March for allegedly belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang, are being held — despite a judge’s order to halt their transfer.

After touring the 40,000-inmate maximum-security prison with El Salvador’s Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro, Noem turned her back on one of the large, three-tiered bunk cells where dozens of men with shaved heads and tattooed bodies stared back at her.

Against that backdrop, she recorded a video that she later posted to her X account: “First of all, I want to thank El Salvador and its president for their partnership with the United States of America to bring our terrorists here in bringing our terrorists here and to incarcerate them,” she said, before issuing a clear warning: “I also want everybody to know, if you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face. Know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.”

To drive home the message, in case it wasn’t clear, she posted the video with this warning: “If you do not leave, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you could end up in this El Salvadoran prison.”

Shortly afterward, now wearing a blazer and without her baseball cap, Noem signed a memorandum of cooperation to officially update the security partnership between the U.S. and El Salvador. As announced, the agreement ensures the exchange of information and fugitive records to prevent Salvadoran criminals from being mistakenly released in the United States.

The visit came just 10 days after the deportation of 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador — a move that has sparked a battle with the courts. As is often the case with Donald Trump, it all began with a threat made real. His administration tested the legal boundaries of executive power by invoking the Alien Enemies Act — a law dating back to 1798, previously used only three times in U.S. history, always during wartime — to justify the expedited deportation of foreign nationals by labeling them part of an invading force.

Shortly after, two planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan citizens, allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, were sent to El Salvador, where they were imprisoned alongside thousands of Salvadoran gang members — and, according to families and human rights advocates, many innocent people — at the CECOT. Almost simultaneously, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the rule. This should have kept the planes grounded or, if already airborne — as the administration claims — forced them to return to U.S. soil.

Eventually, the flights landed in El Salvador, where they were met by President Nayib Bukele, who shared a Hollywood-style video on social media showing the deportees shackled, shaved, and being transported to prison. In response to news reports about the U.S. government defying a judge’s order, Bukele mockingly replied: “Oopsie... Too late.”

Shortly after, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio added his own clarification, posting a message accompanied by three emojis: the Salvadoran flag, the U.S. flag, and two shaking hands. His message read: “We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders [Mara Salvatrucha, the largest Salvadoran gang] plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador. Also, as promised by the U.S. president, we sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars. President Nayib Bukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S. Thank you!”

The episode has sparked widespread controversy. The legal battle in the United States continues, with two judges upholding Judge Boasberg’s original order. One judge even remarked that Nazis deported under the same law received better treatment. The case now appears to be headed for the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, some relatives of the detainees claim to have recognized their loved ones in the released footage, insisting they were never part of a gang. They argue that authorities wrongly identified them as criminals solely based on their tattoos.

Adding another layer of complexity, the Venezuelan government announced that it will once again accept deportation flights from the U.S. Additionally, a law firm — allegedly hired directly by Venezuela’s the Office of the Vice President — filed a habeas corpus petition with the Supreme Court of El Salvador on Monday, demanding the immediate release of the 238 deported Venezuelans.

The deportees now find themselves in legal limbo. They no longer exist in the U.S. immigration system, yet they haven’t been charged with a crime or appeared before a judge in El Salvador. What’s more, El Salvador severed diplomatic ties with Venezuela in 2019, meaning the migrants also lack consular representation.

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