More alleged Tren de Aragua prisoners were sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) Sunday night, but a court order preventing President Donald Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to do so was not violated in doing so.
A group of 17 suspected gang members was sent from Guantanamo Bay to the El Salvador supermax, and six other alleged gang members were also transferred.
Many of the detainees had already been convicted of rape or murder, while others were yet to go to trial.
Trump used Title 8 to send the prisoners out of the country, rather than using the Alien Enemies Act, which has been blocked by a federal judge for the time being.
"In order to keep the American people safe, @POTUS designated the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as Foreign Terrorist Organizations," Rubio said on X. "These criminals will no longer terrorize our communities and citizens."
Keivis Jesus Arrecheder Vasquez, a Venezuelan national and an alleged leader of Tren de Aragua, was among the transferred prisoners, according to White House senior officials.
All of the prisoners were citizens of either El Salvador or Venezuela.
Trump took to Truth Social to thank El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele for "taking the criminals that were so stupidly allowed, by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, to enter our Country, and giving them such a wonderful place to live."
The prison was opened by Bukele in 2023 in an effort to crack down on street gangs there.
It can hold up to 40,000 prisoners, but so far under 300 have been sent there from the U.S.
The prisoners there never get to go outdoors and the Associated Press said there aren't enough bunks for all of them.
There have been allegations of human rights abuses there, and the AP reported that 261 men have died in the prison since it opened.
Still, Trump is sending a message about what will happen to illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes in America.
"Every day, America becomes safer, thanks to the leadership of President Trump," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to reporters. "If you’re an illegal terrorist or criminal – the Trump administration is coming for you."
