Mon Mar 24 18:10:00 UTC 2025: ## DHS Secretary Noem to Tour El Salvador’s Mega-Prison Following Mass Deportation of Criminal Aliens
**SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador –** Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem will visit El Salvador next week, touring the country’s controversial Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) and meeting with President Nayib Bukele. This follows the recent deportation of 261 alleged criminal aliens, primarily from Venezuela, to El Salvador.
The visit, announced by the Department of Homeland Security, underscores the U.S.’s commitment to working with partner nations to remove violent criminals from American soil. According to a senior Trump administration official, the deportees – many of whom were apprehended under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 – had rap sheets including charges like aggravated assault, robbery, kidnapping, and sexual abuse. 101 Venezuelans were deported under Title 8.
President Bukele, a vocal ally of former President Trump, shared video footage of the deportations, highlighting the alleged gang members’ apprehension and transfer to CECOT. He praised the operation as a boost to intelligence gathering and the fight against MS-13.
Noem’s visit to CECOT on March 26th will include a tour with Salvadoran Justice Minister Héctor Gustavo Villatoro, followed by a meeting with President Bukele. Her trip will also include stops in Colombia to meet with President Gustavo Petro and in Mexico to meet with President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Former President Trump, in a Truth Social post, thanked President Bukele for his cooperation and blamed the Biden administration for the influx of criminal aliens. He stated that the deported individuals were “monsters” sent to the U.S. by the Democrats.
The mass deportation and Secretary Noem’s visit highlight the increasingly strained relationship between the U.S. and its southern neighbors regarding immigration and the fight against transnational crime.
First Piper 