DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confident her agency is only removing 'criminals' from the US
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said she’s confident the individuals being sent to a mega prison in El Salvador are where they’re supposed to be, despite concerns from legal groups that some people have been misidentified and deported without due process.
Noem traveled to Tecoluca, El Salvador, last week to tour the Terrorist Confinement Center, commonly referred to as CECOT.
The Trump administration has flown criminal migrants, many of whom are alleged Venezuelan gang members, to CECOT in recent weeks as it works to mass deport those who illegally entered the country under former President Biden.
"I trust our intelligence agencies and the intelligence individuals that are within the Department of Homeland Security, that the individuals who are there are members and a part of this organization and have worked with them," she said Monday in an interview on "Special Report," referring to the foreign terrorist organizations Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13.
"And while we were there at that prison, we not only talked about how to identify these members of these terrorist organizations, but what they did, [the] actions they took, the case files we built on them — and how we verified that those individuals should be there in that prison."
The White House is embroiled in a legal battle over its ability to use the 1798 wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected TdA members after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in mid-March, pausing all flights to El Salvador.
The Trump administration last week asked the Supreme Court to overturn Boasberg’s TRO and allow it to continue deporting suspected gang members.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced on Monday the transfer and arrival of 17 suspected gang members who he says were linked to TdA and MS-13.
"All individuals are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists," Bukele wrote in a post on X. "This operation is another step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime."
Noem told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier that she spoke with Bukele during her trip, and he agreed to take in more of the "worst of the worst" at CECOT.
The DHS secretary responded to Democrats’ claims that any immigrant accused of association with gangs or cartels can be deported without due process, arguing they’re trying to use "fear" to "control" people.
"We are doing due diligence to make sure that we're going after these criminals [who] have perpetuated violence on American citizens, and we're removing them from our country," said Noem.
She added that the White House has deported over 120 people on the known terrorist watch list and more than 800 TdA members since President Donald Trump took office in late January.