President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Monday that an additional 17 “foreign gang terrorists” who belonged to the Tren De Aragua and MS-13 gangs were deported on Sunday to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador.
In a Monday statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “Last night, in a successful counter-terrorism operation with our allies in El Salvador, the United States military transferred a group of 17 violent criminals from the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 organizations, including murderers and rapists.”
In his statement, Rubio said the president designated both MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” to help protect the American people. The secretary of state added, “These criminals will no longer terrorize our communities and citizens.”
Rubio thanked El Salvador President Nayib Bukele for the “unparalleled partnership” between his administration and the Trump administration to take steps to protect both the U.S. and El Salvador from “transnational crime and terrorism.”
READ MORE: Video: 250+ gang member ‘monsters’ deported by Trump admin to El Salvador
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Bukele shared a video of Sunday’s joint military operation. The video shows the 17 “foreign gang terrorists” being escorted by law enforcement officials off a U.S. Air Force airplane before being transported to the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador. The video also shows the illegal immigrant gang members having their heads shaved and being placed in prison cells.
“Last night, in a joint military operation with our allies from the United States, we transferred 17 extremely dangerous criminals linked to Tren de Aragua and MS-13,” Bukele wrote. “All individuals are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists. This operation is another step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.”
According to The Daily Wire, the Trump administration’s deportation of 17 additional “foreign gang terrorists” comes as the administration continues to spar with a federal judge over the president’s authority to deport individuals believed to be members of the terrorist gangs identified by the administration.
The Daily Wire noted that Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary order prohibiting the Trump administration from deporting illegal immigrants under the “Alien Enemies Act of 1798” earlier this month following the administration’s deportation of over 250 illegal immigrant gang members to El Salvador.
Fox News reported that the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review Boasberg’s restraining order against the administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal immigrant gang members.
In Friday’s filing, U.S. Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris claimed that the “flawed” order against the administration threatens “the government’s sensitive negotiations with foreign powers” and could cause “serious and perhaps irreparable harm if not immediately reviewed” by the Supreme Court.
© American Military News
