Trump to Host Bukele Amid Contentious Deportation Program
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele at the White House on Monday. The meeting comes as the US continues a program of deporting individuals, including alleged gang members, to El Salvador, Al Jazeera reports.
The deportation program, which has faced legal challenges, involves the transfer of individuals the US identifies as gang members, including Venezuelans accused of affiliation with the Tren de Aragua group, to El Salvador’s maximum-security prison system.
Trump has publicly praised Bukele’s government for accepting these individuals.
“President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World… They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Sunday that ten more alleged members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua had been deported to El Salvador.
The Trump administration has invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act as legal justification for the deportations. This legislation, rarely used in recent history, allows for the removal of nationals from countries deemed hostile during periods of conflict.
The administration asserts that all individuals deported under this program have been vetted and linked to gangs that the US designates as “terrorist” organizations. Hundreds of individuals have been transferred to El Salvador under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act.
