The United States National Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, visited on Wednesday the high-security prison in El Salvador where detained Venezuelan immigrants are being held, who, according to Washington, were part of the Tren de Aragua. The tour included two overcrowded cell blocks, the armory, and an isolation unit.
PUBLICIDAD
Noem’s trip to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), where inmates are overcrowded in cells and never allowed to leave, took place as the US government tries to demonstrate that it is deporting individuals described as “the worst of the worst,” a situation for which it has not provided evidence.
PUBLICIDAD
Due to these deportations, Trump has faced several legal challenges and his response has been to request the removal of one of those federal judges.
What did Kristi Noem do in jail?
Noem dodged the press’s questions about whether deported Venezuelans would remain in prison indefinitely and if they could return to the United States if a court orders the government to do so.
“We will let the courts decide,” he declared to journalists after the visit.
Noem toured an area housing some of the Venezuelans accused of belonging to gangs. Inside the hot building, the men dressed in white t-shirts and shorts looked silently from their cell without making any noise, and when she left, they were heard shouting an unrecognizable slogan.
In a cell block housing Salvadoran prisoners, approximately a dozen were guarded by officers near the front of their cell, and were asked to remove their shirts and masks. The men had many tattoos on their chests, some with the letters MS, representing the Mara Salvatrucha gang.
After listening to the Salvadoran officials, Noem turned her back to the cell and recorded a video message.
“If an immigrant commits a crime, this is one of the consequences they could face,” she declared. “First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be deported and prosecuted. But keep in mind that this facility is one of the tools in our kit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.”
The security secretary met with Bukele
Noem also met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has earned the admiration of the American right for his offensive against the country’s gangs, despite the democratic and due process implications that this entails.
“This unprecedented relationship we have with El Salvador will serve as a model for other countries on how they can collaborate with the United States,” Noem declared to the press on Wednesday.
Since taking office, Noem has frequently led initiatives to highlight immigration enforcement. She has participated in immigration control operations, ridden horses with Border Patrol agents, and was the face of a television campaign warning people living in the United States without legal residency to self-deport.
Noem’s visit on Wednesday is part of a three-day trip. She will also travel to Colombia and Mexico.
Why did Trump deport immigrants to El Salvador?
The detained Venezuelans were expelled from the United States this month after Trump invoked the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798 and claimed that the country was being invaded by the Tren de Aragua gang. This law grants the president powers in times of war and allows foreigners to be deported without the opportunity to appear before an immigration or federal judge.
An appeals court on Wednesday upheld an order preventing the government from deporting more Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador under the Foreign Enemies Act.