Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will visit El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center on Wednesday, just over a week after the U.S. transferred hundreds of illegal aliens to the prison, Fox News first reported.
Noem will tour the detention center with Salvadoran Minister of Justice Héctor Gustavo Villatoro and will later meet with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.
The trip “underscores the importance of our partner countries to help remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the United States,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for Public Affairs, told Fox News Digital on Sunday.
According to the Trump administration, the more than 250 illegal aliens deported to the prison in El Salvador are members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.
“President [Donald] Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for criminal aliens considering entering America illegally: don’t even think about it,” McLaughlin told Fox. “If you come to our country and break our laws, we will hunt you down, and lock you up.”
In addition to her visit to El Salvador, Noem will also stop in Colombia on Thursday to meet with President Gustavo Petro and the Colombian National Police. On Friday, Noem will make her final stop in Mexico to meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Noem’s trip to Latin America comes as the Trump administration continues aggressive deportation efforts focused on the arrest and removal of criminal illegal aliens.
On Friday, DHS announced the arrest of 68 Tren de Aragua gang members in less than a week.
Trump has designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization, allowing the government to access additional resources to find, arrest, and deport the gang members.
“Tren de Aragua is a terrorist organization whose members are rapists, drug traffickers, and murderers,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to make sure these dirtbags are removed from America’s streets and face justice.”
While the Trump administration’s focus remains on the deportation of criminal illegal aliens, DHS is encouraging all illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. to self-deport. In mid-March, DHS launched an international ad campaign warning migrants to stay out of the U.S., and encouraging illegal aliens to leave the U.S.
“Trump has a clear message: if you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you. You will never return,” Noem says.
DHS has launched a mobile app called CBP Home to help illegal immigrants leave the country in an orderly manner. Noem tells illegal immigrants, “if you leave now, you may have an opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American dream.”
