The Trump administration released a list of names of just some of the foreign national criminals and alleged gangbangers it has deported to El Salvador, including men convicted of rape and other heinous criminal activities.
The White House on Monday released a “tiny sample” of names of the “cold-blooded criminals” it has deported to El Salvador after reaching a deal to transfer deportees inside the Terrorism Confinement Center, a famous mega-prison the tiny Central American country built to house members of MS-13, Tren de Aragua and other major criminal syndicates. The press release came as El Salvador President Nayib Bukele met with President Donald Trump to discuss their cooperation on detaining illegal migrant criminals.
Jorge Luis Guerrero-Quintero — a Venezuelan national convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl and a confirmed member of notorious crime syndicate Tren de Aragua (TdA) — was among those deported to El Salvador, according to the White House press release. Kerwin Arturo Leal-Estrada and Jorge Luis Zerpa-Belancourt were two other Venezuelan nationals and confirmed TdA members who were sent away.
TdA began as a prison gang in the northern Venezuelan state of Aragua in 2014. The criminal syndicate has since grown exponentially into the biggest criminal organization in Venezuela, boasting thousands of members across Latin America and the U.S., has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.
Confirmed MS-13 gang members Jose Lopez-Cruz and Miguel Angel Fuentes-Lopez, both Salvadoran nationals, were also among those listed as being deported back to El Salvador, according to the White House. Both men were convicted on various assault and other criminal charges.
“Thanks to the two leaders [Trump and Bukele], scores of violent illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gang members, and other sick criminals have been swiftly taken off our streets,” the White House said Monday.
Trump in March invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a presidential wartime authority dating back to the late 1700s, to quickly detain and deport TdA members across the U.S. Taking Bukele’s offer to use the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) to house these individuals for a nominal fee, the Trump administration has worked to transport as many suspected TdA members and other gang member to El Salvador.
The move has been met with strong resistance from left-wing groups opposed to Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda, with district judges putting up roadblocks on his efforts to deport suspected gang members. An Obama-appointed judge also ordered the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and accused MS-13 member deported to his home country in March.
The Trump administration has argued that the federal courts do not have the authority to demand Garcia be returned from his home country, as El Salvador is a sovereign nation and Garcia — a Salvadoran national himself — is in the country’s custody.
Any questions over whether El Salvador would return Garcia to the U.S. were squashed Monday during Bukele’s meeting with Trump.
“I suppose you’re suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States,” Bukele said in response to a reporter’s question about Garcia. “How can I smuggle, how can I return him to the United States, like I smuggle him into the United States? Of course, I’m not going to do it.”
“I mean, the question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States?” Bukele continued. “I don’t have the power to return him to the United States. We’re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country.”
The Trump administration on Monday name-dropped other gang members and criminals it recently has sent to El Salvador.
Elmer Concepcion Romero Yanes and Felipe Gomez, two Salvadoran nationals convicted of homicide, have been sent back to their home country by the Trump administration, according to the White House. Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios, a Salvadoran national and one of MS-13’s original “Twelve Apostles of the Devil” was also deported to El Salvador.
The White House Monday named 14 other Salvadoran and Venezuelan individuals sent to the Central American country since the Trump administration reached its deal with Bukele. The other individuals included those convicted or charged of heinous crimes, such as rape, kidnapping, sexual assault, human trafficking and abuse of a child, among other crimes.
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