Chris Van Hollen: Trump Agreed To Drop Cases Against Gang MS-13 Members So He Could Deport People To CECOT

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke about reports that President Trump agreed to drop cases against members of MS-13 and send them back to El Salvador and in exchange, El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele opened CECOT to people deported from the U.S.

Transcript

00:00Thank you Senator and thank both of you for your testimony on how we can better

00:03crack down on transnational gang violence. Some of us have been at this

00:08issue for a very long time. About 20 years ago I formed a regional anti-gang

00:15task force with Congressman Frank Wolf from Virginia at the time to crack down

00:20on Central American gangs, primarily MS-13. But it does make it more difficult

00:29for us to crack down on gangs like MS-13 when leaders in their home countries

00:34are actually working against us and that includes President Bukele in El Salvador.

00:42In 2020 the Salvadorian news outlet El Faro reported that Bukele's officials

00:48secured deals with MS-13 to reduce homicides but in exchange for prison

00:54privileges and political support. Dr. Felbhab, is it true that in December 2021

01:01the US Department of Treasury validated this report by imposing global Magnitsky

01:07sanctions on two senior Bukele officials for their roles in making these deals?

01:12I saw the indictment, yes.

01:16Right. And beyond that and additional evidence came to light, in 2023 there was a DOJ indictment

01:27that revealed that Bukele's government helped an MS-13 gang leader known as Crook avoid extradition

01:36to the United States. Bukele officials even set him up in a luxury apartment and assisted in his escape out

01:44of El Salvador. Do you remember those reports? Yes, I do.

01:49Thank you. And would you agree, Doctor, that blocking extraditions to the United States

01:57and aiding fugitives makes President Bukele often an unreliable partner when it comes to fighting

02:05transnational crime? Certainly, if negotiations with criminal groups

02:12criminal groups lead to political advantages, if they enable corruption, if they operate outside of

02:19the rule of law, and if they prevent disclosure of significant compromising evidence, this is very

02:25concerning as to what kind of partner such an individual, in this case President of El Salvador,

02:30could be in combating organized crime groups. Well, I want to pick up on what you just said about

02:37preventing the disclosure of very important information to hold criminals accountable.

02:46Because when President Trump came to office his second time around, he made a deal with President

02:53Bukele, where President Bukele agreed to imprison in Seacott, a notorious prison, people who were taken

03:02from the United States in violation of their due process rights. Less attention has been paid to

03:09what President Bukele got in exchange. What he got in exchange was that President Trump ordered federal

03:17prosecutors to drop charges that were pending against MS-13 people who were in United States custody, had been

03:28charged with crimes. They were in U.S. custody. They were awaiting trial in the United States. And instead of

03:34having them stand trial and have information come out at that trial about the collusion between MS-13 and

03:43President Bukele, President Trump sent them back to El Salvador. Isn't that right?

03:47Yes. My understanding from reporting by New York Times and other outlets is that this is indeed what has been

03:56part of the deal. And certainly the lack of disclosure that the charged individuals would provide in

04:01cooperating with U.S. law enforcement authorities or in U.S. courts is, in my view, significant blow to countering

04:09organized crime groups and, crucially, to countering the political collusion that enables it in a fundamental way.

04:16Now, I agree with you 100 percent. I think it sends a very dangerous message to U.S. law enforcement

04:22that when they're in the middle of making a case against MS-13 gang members here in the United States,

04:29rather than take them to trial and get that testimony and evidence, they get sent back to El Salvador

04:35where they're effectively silenced. That testimony doesn't come to light. We've seen El Faro, one of the

04:41newspapers in El Salvador that has brought these things to light, being heavily persecuted

04:47by Bukele's government, all sorts of harassment. We just, within the last few weeks, saw Cristosal,

04:55which is a very important human rights organization in El Salvador, leave El Salvador because

05:01of their fear of retaliation by Bukele for their anti-corruption reporting. If you could just close

05:08where you began, really, which is saying that when you have this corruption, it does undermine our efforts

05:16to combat gang violence and puts more Americans at risk.

05:20Absolutely. Anti-organized crime activities are fundamental to the health and well-being of society,

05:28but they need to take place within the rule of law. All too often, anti-crime campaigns become

05:35mechanisms of political repression that targets any kind of opponents. And for anti-crime efforts to be

05:42effective, they need to be strictly consistent with human rights, laws, civil rights, and they need to

05:49foster civil society openness, investigative journalism, and oversight by groups such as NGOs.

05:59Thank you, Doctor. Thank you both. Thank you, Minister. Thanks, Senator.

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