The U.S. military has completed a successful counter-terrorism mission in collaboration with El Salvador, according to a senior Pentagon official, although the term appears to refer primarily to the deportation of alleged criminals.
On Monday, the State Department reported that the military had deported a group of individuals connected to Venezuelan criminal organizations and MS-13. The Pentagon did not elaborate on the nature of the "counter-terrorism" operation in its statement.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's chief of staff, Joe Kasper, confirmed the successful mission, stating that it occurred over the weekend in partnership with El Salvador. The State Department later clarified that 17 individuals categorized as foreign criminals were deported.
According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the group included violent offenders associated with Tren de Aragua and MS-13, such as murderers and rapists.
Former President Trump, who took office in January, pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants as part of a comprehensive immigration enforcement strategy. Earlier this month, he invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a law that has traditionally been applied during wartime, to target alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.