President Donald Trump will not be able to mass deport alleged criminals to El Salvador’s toughest prison
President Donald Trump’s plans to deport hundreds of alleged criminals to one of the world’s toughest prisons in Central America, have been thwarted by the Supreme Court.
The request by the Trump administration to remove the temporary block placed on the deportations of Venezuelans, which the Republican had hoped to carry out under an unknown 18th-century wartime law, has been denied.
On March 15, the 78-year-old’s administration flew hundreds of migrants to El Salvador‘s notoriously violent ‘mega-prison’, the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), despite US District Judge James E. Boasberg having temporarily halted the deportations to having taken place on the same day.
However, White House secretary Karoline Leavitt refuted claims that the Trump administration defied a court order, issuing a statement to say that the president and his team ‘did not refuse to comply with a court order’.
CBS’ 60 Minutes carried out an investigation into the 238 Venezuelans who have been branded criminals by the US government – with 179 of those holding no public criminal record.
Supreme Court blocks mass deportations
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What is the Alien Enemies Act of 1798?
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a relatively unknown 18th century law, was created in response to spying and sabotage during tensions with France at the time, and was passed shortly after the US was liberated from the British Empire.
According to the act, it can be invoked during a ‘declared war’ or ‘any invasion or predatory incursion’ against the US government from a foreign government.
Until the president terminates it, it can remain in action for as long as necessary.
It has already been used a handful of times in the US throughout history – the last being to justify internment camps for Japanese, German and Italian citizens, who were the Axis powers at the time, during the Second World War.
Why Trump wanted to impose the 18th-century wartime law
Immigration has been a hot topic for the US president, as Donald Trump touted his hard-line approach during his campaign trail and signed an executive order to ‘protect the American people against invasion’ within hours of taking over the White House on January 20.
The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 would allow Trump to quickly deport migrants accused of ‘invasion or predatory incursion and those deemed to be gang members’, reports Reuters.
El Salvador’s CECOT prison where the only furniture is tiered metal bunks, with no sheets, pillows or mattresses (Alex Pena/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The White House confirmed in January that an executive order was designating criminal cartels, like the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, as terrorist organizations where the law would kick-in to allow legal deportations.
What the block means for mass deportations
The block was upheld in the Supreme Court by a vote of seven in favour and two against. However, the process is not over.
The justices have now sent the case back to a federal appeals court where they must decide on the underlying issue that has arisen from the US government’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
“Under these circumstances, notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster,” the unsigned ruling read in part.
It means the men being held in a detention north Texas will be given a chance to prove their innocence before being exiled to the CECOT.
How Trump has responded
President Donald Trump’s ambitions to deport alleged criminals to El Salvador has been thwarted (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Taking to Truth Social, the POTUS posted: “The Supreme Court has just ruled that the worst murderers, drug dealers, gang members, and even those who are mentally insane, who came into our Country illegally, are not allowed to be forced out without going through a long, protracted, and expensive Legal Process.
“One that will take, possibly, many years for each person, and one that will allow these people to commit many crimes before they even see the inside of a Courthouse. The result of this decision will let more CRIMINALS pour into our Country, doing great harm to our cherished American public.
“It will also encourage other criminals to illegally enter our Country, wreaking havoc and bedlam wherever they go. The Supreme Court of the United States is not allowing me to do what I was elected to do.”
He continued: “Sleepy Joe Biden allowed MILLIONS of Criminal Aliens to come into our Country without any ‘PROCESS’ but, in order to get them out of our Country, we have to go through a long and extended PROCESS.
“In any event, thank you to Justice Alito and Justice Thomas for attempting to protect our Country. This is a bad and dangerous day for America!”Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty
Topics: Donald Trump, Immigration, El Salvador
Published 15:42 19 Apr 2025 GMT+1
Supreme Court gives order to Trump that will halt deportation of migrants to ‘world’s worst prison’
The alleged criminals detained in north Texas will temporarily not be sent to El Salvador’s CECOT
The Trump administration has been ordered to stop deporting migrants to El Salvador for the time being.
It means the men being held in a detention north Texas under a wartime law created back in the 1700s, will be given a chance to prove their innocence before being exiled to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT). This is all thanks to the order issued by the US Supreme Court in the early hours of this morning (April 19).
The order read in full: “There is before the Court an application on behalf of a putative class of detainees seeking an injunction against their removal under the Alien Enemies Act. The matter is currently pending before the Fifth Circuit.
“Upon action by the Fifth Circuit, the Solicitor General is invited to file a response to the application before this Court as soon as possible.”
While importantly stating: “The Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.
“Justice Thomas and Justice Alito dissent from the Court’s order. Statement from Justice Alito to follow.”
A prison officer guards a cell at maximum security penitentiary CECOT, in El Salvador (Alex Peña/Getty Images)
To carry out the deportations of the men who have already been flown to El Salvador, Trump used a little-known law that was previously used during WW2 to justify internment camps for Japanese, German and Italian people within the nation. It is known as the 18th-century wartime legislation, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
To catch us all up to speed, the Trump administration flew hundreds of migrants to El Salvador‘s notoriously violent ‘mega-prison’ on March 15, despite US District Judge James E. Boasberg having temporarily halted the deportations to having taken place on the same day.
Prisoners look out of their cell at CECOT, where they are only given 30 minutes to exercise (Alex Peña/Getty Images)
However, White House secretary Karoline Leavitt refuted claims that the Trump administration defied a court order, issuing a statement to say that the president and his team ‘did not refuse to comply with a court order’.
While CBS’s 60 Minutes carried out an investigation into the 238 Venezuelans who have been branded criminals by the US government – with 179 of those holding no public criminal record.
The prison itself was visited by CNN’s David Culver, who spoke of the ‘spartan’ conditions inmates are expected to live in.
Culver and his team reported that cells are unlike American prisons in that they are ‘built to hold 80 inmates’ or more. As well as this, inmates are held for 23.5 hours a day, far from the expected ‘luxuries’ of American prisons.
Culver reported: “The only furniture is tiered metal bunks, with no sheets, pillows or mattresses … an open toilet, a cement basin and plastic bucket for washing and a large jug for drinking water.”Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Topics: El Salvador, Politics, US News, Crime, Donald Trump
Published 13:29 1 May 2025 GMT+1
Trump admits he could bring back wrongly deported man from El Salvador but ‘won’t’ as administration explain reasoning
The Supreme Court ruled Trump’s admin ‘must facilitate’ Kilmar Armando Ábrego García’s return…
Donald Trump has revealed he ‘could’ ask El Salvador to return wrongly deported Kilmar Armando Ábrego García but also said he’s ‘not the one making this decision’.
Since becoming 47th President of the US, Donald Trump has enacted mass deportations leading to over 250 alleged criminals being sent to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) – considered the ‘world’s worst prison‘ – in El Salvador.
A man named Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, from Maryland, was sent there last month with Trump’s administration later admitting his deportation was due to an ‘admin error’.
On April 10, the Supreme Court ruled it must ‘facilitate’ Ábrego García’s return, however, the husband and dad is still yet to make it back to the US.
And Trump has since addressed why he even if he ‘could’ he’d ‘probably keep’ García where ‘he is’ despite the ruling.
Trump explains what he said to Zelenskyy
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On Tuesday (April 29), Trump sat down with ABC News anchor and Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran at the Oval Office.
Trump was asked what he’s doing to ‘comply’ with the Supreme Court’s order to return García to the US.
The POTUS responded: “The person that you’re talkin’ about, you know, you’re makin’ this person sound – this is a MS-13 gang member, a tough cookie, been in lots of skirmishes, beat the hell out of his wife, and the wife was petrified to even talk about him, okay?
“This is not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland […] He came into our country illegally.”
When asked whether he couldn’t just ‘get him back’ – Moran noting there was even ‘a phone on [the very] desk’ they were seated at – Trump admitted: “I could.”
Trump agreed, confirming he ‘could’ pick up the phone and call up the president of El Salvador and say ‘Send him back’.
And why he’s not?
Kilmar Armando Ábrego García was wrongly deported (Maansi Srivastava/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Well, Trump continued: “And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that.”
The president argued he’s also ‘not the one making this decision’.
But even if he was the one calling the shots on García’s return?
Well, he resolved: “If I were the president that just wanted to do anything, I’d probably keep him right where he is…”
Earlier on in the interview, Trump was pressed about the law requiring every single person who’s set for deportation being granted a hearing first.
Trump wouldn’t return the wrongly deported dad even if he ‘could’ (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump said: ‘l have to ask the lawyers about that. All I can say is this: If you’re gonna have 21 million people, and if we have to get a lot of ’em out because they’re criminals, we’re gonna have to act fast. We can’t – do you think we can give 21 million trials? Let’s say each trial takes two weeks. Is that what you want us to do…”
Moran reminded the POTUS: “The law is the law, sir.”
Nevertheless, Trump continued: “We follow the legal process. I can’t — I can’t have a trial– a major trial– for every person that came in illegally, we have thousands of murderers that came in. They’re gonna murder people. They already have murdered people in our country.”
Despite Trump’s comments, his administration has admitted ‘many’ of those deported to the ‘world’s worst prison’ actually have no criminal record at all.Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Win McNamee
Topics: US News, Politics, Donald Trump, World News, El Salvador
Updated 07:34 21 Apr 2025 GMT+1Published 07:30 21 Apr 2025 GMT+1
Trump issues scathing statement about father who was deported to ‘world’s worst prison’ due to ‘admin error’
The Trump administration has previously admitted an ‘administrative error’ led to the deportation of the Maryland father
Donald Trump has issued an explosive statement about the father who was deported to a notorious El Salvador prison as a result of an ‘admin error’.
Over 250 alleged criminals have been deported to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) in El Salvador, as Trump press ahead with his plane to enact mass deportations using a law last invoked during World War II.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, from Maryland, is one of the individual’s to have been sent to the prison – though the Trump administration has previously admitted this was an ‘administrative error’.
While Garcia did enter the country illegally sometime around 2011, a judge had previously decided in 2019 that he should not be deported because he was being threatened by a gang in his native country.
Nonetheless, Garcia was detained on March 12 this year, with the Trump administration claiming he was arrested ‘in the company of other ranking gang members’.
Garcia was deported due to an ‘administrative error’ (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
A ‘reliable source’ also stated Garcia was confirmed to be a member of MS-13, according to the White House.
CASA, an immigrant advocacy organization, has campaigned for Garcia’s return to the US, claiming he has never been found guilty of any crime in both the US and El Salvador.
Amid all the noise, Trump has take to his Truth Social account to issue a scathing statement about Garcia’s potential return to America.
The 47th POTUS wrote: “Radical Lunatic Democrats and their Comrades in the Fake News Media are falsely making Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia out to be a very sweet and innocent person, which is a total, blatant, and dangerous LIE.
“Garcia has been found by two separate Courts to be a member of the violent, killer gang MS-13, was in our Country illegally, and is under a Deportation Order.
Trump continued: “It is despicable and unAmerican for Liberals and the Mainstream Media to hate our Country so much, and be obsessed with protecting criminals, instead of working to keep our Border, streets, and families safe.
Trump has taken to Truth Social to issue a scathing statement (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“Those lying to the American People on behalf of violent criminals have to be held responsible by the Agencies and the Courts. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
A Supreme Court previously ruled that Trump’s administration must ‘facilitate’ Garcia’s return after his accidental deportation was revealed, which has led to meetings taking place between Trump and El Salvador president Nayib Bukele.
But during a meeting in the Oval Office, Bukele made clear it would be up to his government to return Garcia – something which he seemingly refused to consider.
“I hope you’re not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? Of course I’m not going to do it. The question is preposterous,” the El Salvador leader said to press in the meeting.
“We just turned the murder capital of the world to the safest country the western hemisphere. And you want us to go back into the releasing criminals, so we can go back to the murder capital of the world, and that’s not going to happen.”Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty
Topics: Donald Trump, El Salvador, US News, Crime
Updated 13:58 30 Apr 2025 GMT+1Published 12:50 30 Apr 2025 GMT+1
People left dumbfounded over Trump’s photoshop comments on MS-13 tattoos on father deported to ‘world’s worst prison’
During a sit down with ABC News, President Donald Trump touched on the topic of the hand he shared which appeared to be photoshopped
President Donald Trump’s fiery interview with ABC has been described as ‘tragic’ as the president hit out at a journalist who claimed an image he shared on Truth Social was photoshopped.
The 78-year-old sat down with ABC News anchor Terry Moran in the Oval Office yesterday (April 29) to discuss his first 100 days in power, touching on the main talking points.
This naturally included Maryland dad Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, who was among the 250 alleged criminals mass deported to serve time in El Salvador’s Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT).
Kilmar has repeatedly claimed he has no gang affiliations, but on 21 April, Trump posted a picture of tattoos on the man’s hand on Truth Social, which he says shows Kilmer ‘had MS-13 tattooed on his knuckles’.
President Donald Trump shared a picture of García’s hand which appeared to be photoshopped (Truth Social/realdonaldtrump)
Trump claimed a marijuana leaf symbolised the letter M and a smiley face symbolised the letter S, alleging a cross and a skull covered up the number 13.
However, experts have disputed this, with one anonymous community activist telling CBS he’s worked with gang members for 25 years and had never seen a tattoo like this symbolising MS-13.
In the ABC News interview, Moran described the image as ‘photoshopped’, presumably pointing out how ‘M S 1 3’ had been added to the image above the tattoos to explain what authorities thought they meant.
Trump claims MS-13 pic not photoshopped
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Trump replied: “And you think it was photoshopped? Don’t Photoshop it, go look at his hand.
“No, no, Terry, Terry. No, no he had MS as clear as you can be, not interpreted.
“This is why people no longer believe the news because it is fake news.
“Terry, he has MS-13 on his knuckles. Okay? You do such a disservice, why don’t you just say ‘yes he does’ and go onto something else.”
People have been left dumbfounded at the fact that Trump continued to argue his case.
Taking to Reddit, one user wrote: “Dude gave him a million chances to not look like an absolute idiot lol”
President Nayib Bukele shared a picture of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia on his Twitter which revealed he does not have ‘M S 1 3’ tattooed on the knuckles of his right hand (X/@nayibbukele)
“His supporters believe everything is saying. Seems like people hear this and all they think is how crazy he sounds but don’t forget there’s a significant portion that hear these and don’t think anything is off,” typed a second.
A third simply penned: “God that was tragic.”
“This is nuts. He actually thinks the text is real,” a third added in part.
Another added: “Mind-blowing arrogance and stupidity on display.”
While someone laughed: “Like I just assumed they would say “oh we put that there to translate the tattoo” not that it actually said ms13 in f**king times new Roman.”Featured Image Credit: ABC
Topics: Donald Trump, El Salvador, Politics
