El Salvador President Nayib Bukele recently visited the US and met President Donald Trump in the White House.
President Bukele’s visit to the US marked his first outing to the US while being president of El Salvador.
Bukele and President Trump have fostered a close friendship as the former has supported the latter’s immigration enforcement initiatives.
Bukele, who is known for having historically exponentially reduced violent gang crime in his country, has been accepting US deportees.
Namely, Bukele has been working with the Trump administration to incarcerate US deportees with gang affiliations in his world-renowned maximum security prisons specifically designed for gang members.
Trump thanked Bukele for his help in resolving the “terrible” immigration situation the US faced at the beginning of his administration.
“We had an administration that allowed people to come in freely into our country... from all over the world... they came from the gangs of Venezuela... it's a sin what they did, and you are helping us out, and we appreciate it," said Trump.
Bukele has primarily been accepting illegal aliens with Salvadorian nationality, but he has also been receiving Venezuelan deportees given that Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro refuses to accept them.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime supporter of Bukele, similarly commended Bukele for his assistance in deporting criminal gang members.
“Since my visit to El Salvador, the United States has deported dangerous MS13 and Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador's prison,” said Secretary Rubio. “Because of this, our nation is safer and more secure.”
Gang members from MS-13 and Tren de Aragua flooded the US during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
While MS-13 is a Salvadorian gang, Tren de Aragua operates out of Venezuela.
Both gangs have been wreaking havoc across Central America and the US, and the Trump administration has expanded its efforts to detain, prosecute, and deport their members.
