Salvadorean president Nayib Bukele posted footage showing hundreds of alleged criminal migrants arriving in Central America. (@nayibbukele via X)
A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador yesterday – 137 were via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, 101 were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members and two were MS-13 ringleaders and "special cases" for El Salvador, according to the official.
The rap sheets for those removed included kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, aggravated assault, prostitution, robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer.
A Trump administration official also confirmed to Fox News that the planes carrying the migrants were already outside of U.S. airspace when a federal judge ordered the planes to return.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered an immediate stop to Trump's efforts to deport the alleged gang members so he could have more time to consider if Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act was illegal.
"We did not defy a court order. The order came too late, and illegals were already in international airspace," the official said, as first reported by Axios.
In an X post, Bukele said the migrants arrived in El Salvador and were transferred to a "terrorism confinement center," where they will stay for at least a year.
The intense video showed heavily-armed Salvadorean authorities surrounding the alleged gang members, forcing their heads down and transporting them into facilities one by one.
The video also depicted the suspects getting their hair shaven and walking with their hands behind their necks as they were rounded up into their prison cells.
RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP'S 'GOLDEN AGE' AGENDA
The video depicts suspected members of Tren de Aragua and MS-13. (@nayibbukele via X)
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"President @nayibbukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S.," Rubio said in an X post. "Thank you!"
Fox News Digital's Brooke Curto and Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.
Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can follow her on X at @andreamargs or send story tips to andrea.margolis@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-thanks-el-salvador-taking-alleged-gang-members-deported-from-us-we-not-forget