FULL GAGGLE: Kristi Noem Takes Reporters' Questions After Visit To El Salvador Prison

Forbes Breaking News

DHS Sec. Kristi Noem speaks to reporters before departing El Salvador for Colombia.

Transcript

00:00Good evening, everybody. We had a fantastic meeting today here in El Salvador with President Bukele.

00:05We talked about our cooperation on getting the worst of the worst out of the United States and out of our communities,

00:11making people safe. He has

00:14agreed to continue the partnership on making sure the TDA members will be able to be

00:20here in El Salvador and work together to make sure that CICAD is a facility that we can continue to utilize into the future.

00:27And then also very focused on MS-13 gang members, that we would bring them back and bring them to justice as well.

00:34So we talked extensively about migration and immigration issues, how we have such a strong partnership and an

00:42unprecedented opportunity to work together

00:45to do what we can to make our country strong and to bring public safety to our communities and make sure that

00:51our economies are doing well.

00:54It was a great day here, and I'm very grateful for the relationship that we have with the President.

00:59And I conveyed President Trump's thankfulness for his willingness to work with us to continue to build on the relationships that we have.

01:07Did you have any questions for me?

01:10Secretary, do you guys have plans to send more TDA members to the prison we visited today?

01:15And how long are they going to stay there for?

01:18You know, I think that is one of the discussions we'll continue to have. The President today

01:23indicated that he would be open to working with us in the future on still continuing to receive TDA members and MS-13 members.

01:30And so we are grateful for that. We recognize that we still have thousands of these terrorist organization members in our country,

01:38and that we want to get the worst of the worst out so that we can bring more security to the American people.

01:44So he was very open to that, and

01:47this unprecedented

01:49relationship that we have with El Salvador is going to be a model to other countries on how they can work with America

01:56to not only help us make America strong and secure again,

01:59but also to help their countries as well, and to bring them more security and economic prosperity.

02:06What's the plan with the TDA members in the prison? I mean, are they there indefinitely? Is there some end date?

02:12Are they going to go back to Venezuela eventually?

02:16You know, President Bukele and his team

02:19plan to continue to incarcerate these individuals, and

02:23we'll continue to work with them to potentially use that facility that we'll utilize in the future.

02:31Are you getting closer to a deal to get those deportation flights picking back up?

02:35You know, this year, already in 2025, El Salvador has received 51 flights and another one landed today.

02:42So we're continuing to do that, and we will continue to

02:47partner with them to continue those flights throughout the rest of

02:50President Trump's term until we get these criminals and these illegal aliens out of the United States and back

02:57to El Salvador, where the president has welcomed those individuals.

03:01You know, CICAD is a very unique facility in the fact that it is only housing terrorists

03:08and those who belong to these terrorist organizations.

03:12That's what I think is really unique about that facility, is that El Salvador recognizes that these gang members are

03:19members of a terrorist organization, which is exactly how President Trump is approaching

03:24MS-13 and TDA as well. So having world leaders

03:29recognize the threat that they are to our society, and how terrorism doesn't just come from overseas and attacks from overseas,

03:35they come from within our country, and they've targeted us specifically,

03:39that's a strong relationship we can build on to make sure we're going after these dangerous individuals.

03:46Secretary, is there any mechanism to bring back people, if the court orders you to do so, on the merits,

03:52to give them full hearings on whether they are actually TDA members?

03:55You know, we're going to let the courts play out,

03:57but we're going to continue to work to make sure that we're getting dangerous criminals out of America.

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