Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration's decision to send an accused MS-13 gang member back to his native country of El Salvador - and said the U.S. is seeking other countries to do the same.
"I say this unapologetically: We are actively searching for other countries to take people from third countries. So we are active, not just El Salvador," Rubio said Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. "We are working with other countries to say, 'We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries.'"
"We do that as a favor to us, and the further away from America the better so they can't come back across the border," Rubio said. "I'm not apologetic about it. We are doing that."
The "president was elected to keep America safe, and get rid of a bunch of perverts and pedophiles and child rapists out of our country," he said.
WHITE HOUSE DISPLAYS LAWN SIGNS HIGHLIGHTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME
The mother of a Maryland mom of five who was raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador in 2023 appeared at the White House in April to share details of her daughter's violent death.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez attacked Rachel Morin, 37, in August 2023 on a trail in Maryland. Her mother, Patty Morin, told reporters at the White House on April 16 that he raped and strangled her daughter after crushing her skull like an "eggshell," and that not "one inch" of her body remained unharmed.
A jury in the Harford, Maryland, County Circuit court found Martinez-Hernandez, originally from El Salvador, guilty on all counts of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sexual offense and kidnapping.
Rubio's comments also coincide with the Trump administration's decision in March to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who illegally entered the U.S. in 2011, back to his home country of El Salvador. While the Trump administration said in court filings that an administrative error led to Garcia's deportation, it has since accused Garcia of being an MS-13 member.
Additionally, the Justice Department unveiled documents in April outlining domestic violence allegations that Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. Vasquez alleged in the filing that Garcia beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her.
A federal court and the Supreme Court have instructed the Trump administration to coordinate on Garcia's return to the U.S. for proper deportation hearings, but the Trump administration has said it will defer to El Salvador on whether Garcia is sent back to the U.S. or not.
Meanwhile, Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have accused the Trump administration of illegally detaining and deporting Garcia.
"This case is not about Kilmar alone. It is about everyone in America," Van Hollen, who visited Garcia in El Salvador, wrote in a Tuesday letter to Trump that was posted online. "While Mr. Abrego Garcia is at the center of this case, its consequences impact the due process rights of everyone who lives in America. If your Administration can strip away the constitutional rights of one man in defiance of court orders, it can do it to all of us. I will continue to fight to defend our Constitution and the due process rights of all who live in America."
On Monday, the White House placed 100 posters of the "worst illegal immigrants arrested" during the first 100 days of the term on the White House lawn. The posters include the various crimes each illegal immigrant faces accusations of, ranging from rape, murder, sexual assault of a child, lewd acts in front of a child, and distribution of fentanyl and illegal guns.
TRUMP SIGNS LAKEN RILEY ACT INTO LAW AS FIRST LEGISLATIVE VICTORY IN NEW ADMINISTRATION
Trump's border czar Tom Homan told reporters Monday that the Trump administration was tracking down illegal immigrants, and that efforts to evade U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would prove futile.
"Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime," Homan said. "And so every sick person we take off the streets, especially child rapists, makes this country much safer. Every illegal alien we arrest, public safety threat, one at a time makes this country safer."
