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US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traveled to El Salvador on Wednesday, where she met with President Nayib Bukele as part of an official visit that also included a visit to the maximum security prison built by this regime, where more than 200 Venezuelan migrants are being held, expelled from the US as part of Donald Trump's immigration policy
The United States Embassy in El Salvador said in a statement that during the meeting with the Salvadoran president, the US official "expressed her gratitude for the Salvadoran government's cooperation in accepting deportation flights"."I want to thank El Salvador and its president for their collaboration with the United States," the document said without giving further details on what else was discussed during the meeting.
Before her meeting with Bukele, the US official toured the controversial Salvadoran maximum security prison where Venezuelan migrants expelled by US authorities accused of being part of the international criminal group, the Tren de Aragua, are being held
Noem toured different areas of the Center for Confinement of Terrorism (Cecot), the mega-prison that is the symbol of Bukele's policy against criminal gangs in his country, by imposing a state of emergency and harsh questioning for possible human rights violations of hundreds of Salvadorans who remain imprisoned without apparent reason
Through a video, the US official speaks in front of a cell full of tattooed inmates, to thank the Salvadoran government and its president for "their partnership with the United States" to imprison terrorists and show them "the consequences for the violence they have perpetuated in the United States".
"I also want everyone to know that if they come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences they could face," Noam warned, and insisted that if someone comes to the United States "illegally, they will be deported and they will be prosecuted."
He added: "Know that this facility (the Cecot) is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people," he concluded.
Finally, she signed an agreement with El Salvador's Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, to share the criminal records of fugitives and prevent them from being released.
"Today, El Salvador's Minister of Justice and Public Security, Gustavo Villatoro, and I signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to update the Security Alliance for Fugitive Control (SAFE) between our two nations," Noem said on his X account
"This agreement ensures that the criminal backgrounds of fugitives are shared between the United States and El Salvador, so that criminals are not inadvertently released into American communities".
Noem's tour of Latin America
The Secretary of Homeland Security concluded her day of official activities in El Salvador on Friday and from there traveled to Colombia, the second stop on her trip, and will later make a third stop in Mexico.
This is the second visit by a senior official from the Donald Trump administration to meet with Bukele, who shares the US president's political stance. The first was Secretary of State Marco Rubio in early February. In that meeting, the Salvadoran president offered his prison system so that the United States could imprison convicted criminals outside its country
On March 16, the Trump administration sent more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, despite a court order prohibiting it. However, the US press notes that at least 101 of those prisoners were detained in immigration proceedings.