Kristi Noem tells all illegal immigrants to ‘LEAVE NOW’ or suffer same fate as those shipped to El Salvadoran prison

She toured the prison with Salvadoran Minister of Justice Héctor Gustavo Villatoro before meeting with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. The Trump administration has sent over 200 suspected Tren de Aragua gang members to the prison for a term of one year, for which the US is paying $6 million.

The prison was opened in 2023 as part of the country’s crackdown on street gangs. According to Fox News, the prison can hold up to 40,000 inmates, with as many as 65 to 70 prisoners in each cell. El Salvador has been operating under a state of emergency for almost three years as Bukele combats the street gangs. Approximately 84,000 people with alleged gang ties have been arrested so far, according to the Associated Press.

There are no programs in the facility for the prisoners, who aren’t allowed outside and can't have visitors.

Video showed Noem inspecting the cells holding alleged Tren de Aragua gang members who were shirtless, had shaved heads, and were wearing white prison slacks. Noem posted a video to social media showing the cells and inmates in the background, saying, "Do not come to our country illegally: You will be removed, and you will be prosecuted. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people."

Noem wrote on X, "President Trump and I have a clear message to criminal illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW. If you do not leave, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you could end up in this El Salvadorian prison."

Earlier this month, 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador, the majority of whom were deported by the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows for an enemy nation's citizens to be deported without a hearing.

A judge has put a stop to the deportations for now. Over 100 of the illegal aliens were Venezuelans removed using Title 8, 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, and two were MS-13 ringleaders.

During Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to El Salvador in February, Bukele offered to hold US deportees in the prison. President Donald Trump wrote in a March 16 post on Truth Social that the US "will not forget" Bukele's partnership and thanked the leader for his "understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership."