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.
As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) on March 26, 2025 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. ((Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images))
“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.
Prisoners with MS-13 gang tattoos look out of their cell as unseen US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem tours the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) as prisoners stand, looking out from a cell, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26, 2025. ((Photo by ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images))
The Trump administration last week asked the Supreme Court to overturn Boasberg’s TRO and allow it to continue deporting suspected gang members.
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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.”
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele stand in an observation tower with the Minister of Public Works Romeo Rodriguez during a national television transmission to present the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador in a handout distributed to Reuters on February 1, 2023. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters)
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.
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A general view shows the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador in a handout distributed to Reuters on February 1, 2023. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters)
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.
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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.
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