Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visits the Mariposa Port of Entry on March 15 in Nogales, Arizona. On Wednesday, Noem will visit El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, where hundreds of alleged criminal illegal aliens are being held after the Trump administration deported them earlier this month. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News this month that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on March 15. The majority of them were deported via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows for the expulsion of an enemy nation's natives and citizens without a hearing.
More than 100 of the migrants were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, while 21 others were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, the official added. Two were MS-13 ringleaders and "special cases" for El Salvador.
A prison guard transfers deportees from the U.S. to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on Sunday, March 16. (El Salvador presidential press office via AP)
El Salvador has been operating under a state of emergency that suspends fundamental rights for nearly three years as Bukele deals with the street gangs. Some 84,000 people have been arrested so far, accused of gang ties and jailed, often without due process.
Bukele offered to hold U.S. deportees in the prison when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited in February.
In a March 16 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote that the U.S. "will not forget" Bukele's partnership, and thanked the leader for his "understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership."
Fox News Digital’s Adrea Margolis and Emma Colton, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
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