White House border czar Tom Homan dismissed allegations that some deportees recently sent to El Salvador were wrongfully arrested and wrongly classified as gang members.
El Salvador received 238 of the deported immigrants, including Venezuelans associated with the Tren de Aragua gang. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele received them at the Terrorism Confinement Center, otherwise known as CECOT. All prisoners will stay there for a minimum of one year.
ABC News’s This Week anchor Jonathan Karl mentioned to Homan during Sunday’s episode that one deportee, Jerce Reyes Barrios, is claiming to not have any association with TDA. His lawyers, who claim to have lost contact with him since he entered CECOT, allege the case against their client relies entirely on a tattoo he has that resembles a gang tattoo.
“Well, look, they can make those claims. Of course, we have information that says the complete opposite: he’s a member of TDA or affiliated with TDA,” Homan said. “There’s 260 cases. We have to count on the men and women who do this every day for a living, who designated these people as members of the TDA through, like, you said, various law enforcement methods. This will be litigated. As of right now, I’ve been assured by the highest levels in ICE every one of these Venezuelans were members of TDA. There’s going to be more litigation on this case, I’m sure.”
Among these recently received deportees, just under two dozen were members of MS-13. Both of these gangs were labeled as terrorist organizations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“We’re not making this up,” Homan said. “We’re enforcing the laws that are on the books.”
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ICE officials confirmed that these immigrants were deported under Code Title 8, which allows federal authorities to quickly remove certain migrants who cross into the country illegally. They were also deported under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law, which allows the president to remove migrants immediately if they come from invading countries in times of war.
Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling on Saturday night that prohibited deportation flights for 14 days while he oversees a case involving five immigrants with active deportation orders. The Trump administration went through with the deportations as the planes were already airborne when Boasberg’s ruling came out but have since paused efforts.
