White House spokeswoman says there is no doubt that the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador are members of the Aragua Train

Karoline Leavitt, White House spokeswoman, at a press conference Monday assured that the administration is fully convinced that the Venezuelan migrants sent to and imprisoned in El Salvador are members of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organization.

“I can assure the American people that Customs and Border Patrol, ICE, and the Department of Homeland Security are sure about the identities of the individuals who were on these planes and the threat that they pose to our homeland. They take this incredibly seriously," Leavitt said during her statement.

In addition, Leavitt noted that [the agents]:

“They are putting their lives on the line to deport these designated terrorists from our country, and they should be trusted to do that, and that's exactly what the American people elected this President to do.”

The spokeswoman stressed that the operation was based on intelligence gathered by border and immigration authorities, underscoring the government's confidence in identifying the deportees as a threat to national security.

Details of the operation

Of the 261 migrants expelled, 137 were Venezuelan citizens deported under the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which grants the president powers to detain and expel aliens deemed a threat in times of war or national emergency.

Another 101 Venezuelans were deported through regular immigration procedures, known as Title 8. The remaining 23 were Salvadorans targeted as alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, which reportedly included leaders and individuals with felony records, according to the spokeswoman.

The migrants sent to El Salvador were immediately transferred to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a maximum security prison built by the Government of Nayib Bukele to house high-profile criminals.

This operation was carried out under an agreement between the United States and El Salvador. The agreement has been highlighted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who thanked Bukele for his cooperation and described him as "the strongest security leader in our region."