U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday, touring the infamous hellish prison homes where gang members deported by the Trump administration. And she is expected to ask the president of the Central American country to create more rooms.
Noem, 53, has arrived at the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), where 250 Transe Ragua and MS-13 Gang members were shipped from the US by President Trump earlier this month.
They joined the 15,000 prisoners held at the already infamous Lockup. It is known for its intentionally dehumanized conditions aimed at serving as the ultimate deterrent in a long-standing battle against gang violence in El Salvador.
There she saw a line of tattooed prisoners standing obediently along their huge but packed bars of cells, giving her a glimpse into the arsenal of heavy weapons, including attack rifles.
According to a report from the press pool, Gustavo Villatoro, the El Salvador Law College and Minister of Public Security, “I don't think these people can go back to society and act.”
Some of the Noem were gang bangers suspected Trump had been shipped south, and like the rest of the prisoners, they were shown silent in white T-shirts and shorts uniforms.
Ice Barbie-Noem, who is loyal to her nickname, displayed her flowing hair under a baseball cap of immigration and customs enforcement when she was led out of the facility.
After the tour, Noem will meet with Salvador President Naibe Bukere to discuss the rise in the number of boring US people detained by CECOT, Fox News reported.
Her visit to El Salvador is the first stop on a three-day tour of Latin American countries, debating organized crime poured across the border into the United States. She is expected to travel to Colombia and then to Mexico, where she will meet with the presidents of the countries.
“We are in several countries around the world, but if you're thinking about coming to America illegally, don't do it. You're not welcome,” she said Monday.
The Noem tour faces blocking CECOT from deporting Trump, facing homeland efforts.
Wartime law dates back to naval conflicts in the 18th century, allowing the president to expel non-citizens without legitimate procedures that are not normally required. It was last used in World War II to house Japanese and German Americans in detention camps.
Trump declared Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization in January, so he has allowed them to use alien enemies.
However, within hours of the flight departing for CECOT, a federal judge blocked the order and placed a 14-day hold on its use.
The White House ignored the orders and claimed that they had nothing to do with the surgery as the plane was already in the air and above the international sea.
When Noem arrived in El Salvador, the federal court of appeals upheld the Bullock with a 2-1 vote.
“The Nazis received better treatment under the alien enemy law than what happened here,” Judge Patricia Millett said during a fierce hearing.
Trump vowed to fight Brock to go his way.
The contract to maintain Tren de Aragua Decortees at CECOT was struck between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Buquere in February. El Salvador charges the US “relatively low” fees for use, Rubio said, but the number has not been revealed.
CECOT is located 47 miles south of the capital San Salvador and opened in 2023 as Buquer launched a major attack on organized crime in the country.
Inmates spend 23.5 hours a day in a cell with up to 70 people, where they eat, bathe, and go to the bathroom.
The meal consists solely of beans and pasta, with one communal basin used for drinking and the other for bathing. Their inn – a metal bed of 4 levels high, with no sheets, mattresses or pillows.
Prisoners are permitted only from the cells for 30 minutes of exercise, which takes place indoors. Inmates serving at CECOT are not permitted outdoors, and few people see the sun again.
Most inmates have been sentenced to life in prison, and have been described by prison chief director Belarmino Garcia as “a psychopath who is difficult to rehabilitate.”
During her tour of Noem, she was seen serving for 465 years for murder and terrorism.
