President Donald Trump posted video on Sunday of criminal illegal aliens arriving in El Salvador after his administration deported 250 of them despite an order issued late Friday by an Obama-appointed federal judge.
Trump’s team shared video of the prisoners exiting the planes along with a statement the president had posted on his Truth Social platform: “These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they! Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen in the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership. We will not forget!”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 16, 2025
The deportees, upon arrival in El Salvador, were delivered to a mega-prison according to and agreement between the Trump administration and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shared some details about the deportations, which occurred on Saturday, including a list of the crimes allegedly committed by those who were flown to El Salvador.
“Per a senior Trump admin official, there were 261 illegal aliens deported to El Salvador yesterday,” Melugin explained. “137 via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 101 were Venezuelans removed via Title 8 (regular immigration proceedings) 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members 2 were ‘special cases’ for El Salvador (Bukele posted that the U.S. returned two MS-13 ringleaders to El Salvador) Some of the rap sheets for those removed include the following: Kidnapping; Sexual abuse of a child; Robbery; Aggravated assault on a police officer.”
White House Press Secretary @karolineleavitt responds to allegations that the Trump admin violated a federal court order by not turning the deportation flights around:
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 16, 2025
Melugin also included a statement from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who argued that the administration had not defied the judge’s order because their position was that the order was not lawful.
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict,” Leavitt posted.
“Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion. A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” she continued.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also shared some details about the prisoners who were deported to El Salvador on Saturday, revealing that more than 230 were members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua and another 21 were MS-13 members.
“On this occasion, the U.S. has also sent us 23 MS-13 members wanted by Salvadoran justice, including two ringleaders. One of them is a member of the criminal organization’s highest structure. This will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors,” Bukele posted.
“As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action. “May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.”
Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable).
The United States will pay a very low fee for them,… pic.twitter.com/tfsi8cgpD6
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 16, 2025