Based on El Salvador detainees... US Homeland Security Secretary: "Undocumented immigrants will be deported here"

Kristi Noem, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Visits CECOT
Tough Stance Voiced with Shirtless Detainees in the Background
"Illegal Immigrant Criminals, Leave Immediately"

The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security visited a large detention facility in El Salvador and expressed a strong stance on cracking down on illegal entry and stay. Yonhap News reported on the 26th (local time) that "Secretary Kristi Noem of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted a 33-second video on her X (formerly Twitter) showing her visit to CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorista), the largest detention center in Latin America."

Based on El Salvador detainees... US Homeland Security Secretary: "Undocumented immigrants will be deported here"

Christie Nohm, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, visited the Terrorist Detention Center (CECOT) on the 26th (local time), the largest detention facility in Central and South America. Photo by AP Yonhap News

In the video, Secretary Noem said, "This detention facility I visited today is one of the tools we can use when crimes are committed against American citizens," adding, "If you enter the U.S. illegally, you will be prosecuted and deported." She continued, "President Donald Trump and I send a clear message to illegal immigrant criminals to leave immediately."

Behind Secretary Noem in the video, detainees can be seen looking at the camera from behind iron bars. Many of the detainees were shirtless, revealing tattoos on their bodies.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador established CECOT to detain gang members classified as terrorists all at once. Each housing unit can hold 65 to 70 people at a time, and detainees are reportedly not allowed visits or meetings with lawyers. This has led to controversies over human rights violations against detainees.

Previously, the Trump administration deported about 200 Venezuelan nationals under the pretext of eradicating members of the international drug trafficking and violent gang 'Tren de Aragua,' most of whom are confined here. However, the deportees' lawyers claim that U.S. authorities have not presented legitimate evidence proving that these individuals are actual gang members or related to gangs. Some have argued that the U.S. authorities' grounds for deportation were "tattoos with designs such as crowns, flowers, and eyeballs" on their bodies, sparking controversy.

However, Tom Homan, the U.S. Border Czar who led large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants under the Trump administration, rebutted, saying, "The plane carrying the deportees was full of people designated as terrorists."

'Tren de Aragua' is one of eight gangs designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by the U.S. Department of State last month. Secretary Noem plans to visit Colombia on the 27th and Mexico on the 28th following her visit to El Salvador to meet with each country's leaders.