The Trump administration deported another group of violent criminals and gang members to El Salvador over the weekend, according to New York Post reporter Jennie Taer. Among those deported was 51-year-old Jose Santos Robles, a convicted rapist who sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl in New York in 2016.
Robles was one of at least 11 individuals removed from the U.S. as part of the administration’s broader push to deport noncitizens with serious criminal records. The deportations are being carried out under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798—a rarely used wartime law that allows the president to expel noncitizens without court hearings.
The group was transferred to El Salvador’s newly built maximum-security prison, CECOT, which was created to house the country’s most dangerous criminals. Many of those deported in recent weeks are believed to be affiliated with violent gangs such as MS-13.
The operation has reignited tensions between the Trump administration and federal courts. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg recently issued a temporary restraining order to halt the deportations, demanding that any flights already in the air return to U.S. airspace. However, the administration defied the order, moving forward with the removals.
The legal standoff has sparked fierce political debate, with critics accusing so-called “activist judges” of prioritizing the rights of foreign criminals over the safety of American citizens.
Meanwhile, human rights advocates have raised concerns about the legal precedent and the humanitarian impact of sending people to overcrowded and violent foreign prisons, regardless of their criminal histories.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has agreed to accept deportees from the U.S., regardless of their nationality or criminal background, as part of a broader cooperation deal with Washington.
