PoliticsKristi Noem Says El Salvador Prison Visit Shows the 'Consequences' of 'Terrorists' Who 'Murder and Rape' Americans: 'People Need to See That Image'
Kristi Noem paid a visit to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center at the end of March.
Kristi Noem took time to explain herself following a controversial visit to El Savador's notorious mega-prison last week.
In a new interview with Fox News' Special Report host, Bret Baier, on Monday night, March 31, Noem opened up about why she felt the need to make an in-person appearance in front of jam-packed inmates at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Central America.
The Homeland Security secretary said her visit was meant to show 'transparency' to the American people.
"People need to see that image," she said in reference to the rows of prisoners who stood behind bars in back of her as the Homeland Security secretary was filmed and photographed around the high-security jail.
Noem continued: "They need to see that the United States is going to use every tool that we have to make our communities safer, that that is a consequence of someone who is a terrorist."
Kristi Noem wanted to show proof of how the Trump administration has been handling alleged members of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The former governor of South Dakota insisted her tour around the confinement center was meant to provide "transparency" to American citizens and prove how the Trump administration has been handling alleged members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13 detained in the U.S. after the president declared both gangs Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
"The only people allowed in that prison are terrorists," Noem noted. "And to tour that and to look at that, was giving the American people the transparency that they want out of their government."
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Kristi Noem was mocked for wearing a $60,000 Rolex watch to the El Salvador prison.
She added: "They were able to see exactly where we sending these people who have murdered and raped Americans, that have decimated communities, and there’s going to be consequences for individuals who continue to do that."
After her visit to the El Salvador mega-prison, Noem was trolled on social media for wearing a $60,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch on her wrist while inside of the jail.
Kristi Noem visited with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele during her visit to the country.
During her trip to El Salvador, Noem spoke to the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, about whether he’d be willing to "take more of these terrorists" as the U.S. continues to detain alleged gang members.
"And he said, 'Absolutely, we will. We will take the worst of the worst and make sure that they’re facing consequences for what they’ve done to your country,'" the Homeland Security secretary informed Baier of Bukele's promise.
During her chat with Baier, Noem also took the Fox News host on his own tour of the Department of Homeland Security's National Command Center, which supervises activity on the United States' southern border and coordinates federal, state and local law enforcement response to natural disasters and catastrophic events — like mass shootings.
"If an incident happens in this country, it comes through this center and sends a notification out to all the agencies that would respond," Noem detailed.
