A leader of the Latin Kings gang allegedly placed a bounty on the chief of the Trump administration’s deportation raids in Illinois amid a surge in violent attacks against federal immigration officers.
Federal law enforcement officers arrested illegal immigrant gangbanger Juan Espinoza Martinez after he allegedly attempted to orchestrate a murder-for-hire scheme to take out Commander at Large of the U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino.
Martinez, who goes by the nickname “Monkey,” allegedly sent a message to fellow gang members on Snapchat that pictured Bovino and offered a $10,000 reward to “take him down,” according to a screenshot <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/10/06/latin-kings-gang-member-arrested-illinois-after-placing-hit-commander-large-border">shared</a> by the Department of Homeland Security. The message also offered “$2,000 on information when you get him.”
“It’s a war zone out there,” Bovino <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6382156307112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News host Sean Hannity Monday night in response to the latest threat.
He added: “That’s something out of a third-world country, is this America?”
<div id="attachment_982031" style="width: 270px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-982031" class="wp-image-982031 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-25.jpg" alt="" width="260" height="405" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-25.jpg 260w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-25-193x300.jpg 193w" sizes=" (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px" />A screenshot of a Snapchat conversation shows a discussion about the bounty placed on Bovino. (Credit: DHS)</div>
The gang leader also “instructed Latin Kings members to acquire firearms and hang out in the area” after a convoy of vehicles rammed into Border Patrol agents driving in the Chicago area Saturday, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/media/1415976/dl?inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to court documents.
One of the alleged attackers was armed with a semiautomatic weapon, prompting agents to fire shots, striking the individual.
When agents called for backup from the Chicago Police Department as rioters formed a mob in response to the shooting, the local officers were instructed to stand down.
“Placing a bounty on a federal officer’s head is cowardly and an act of war on the rule of law,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche <a href="https://x.com/DAGToddBlanche/status/1975297505974767640" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement Monday. “This case shows what Take Back America means: reclaiming our neighborhoods from violent thugs and criminal gangs.”
“We will hunt anyone who targets those who protect our borders, streets, and communities. Rest assured &#8211; threaten law enforcement and the full weight of the U.S. government will come for you,” he said.
<div id="attachment_982037" style="width: 381px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-982037" class="wp-image-982037 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-26.jpg" alt="" width="371" height="337" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-26.jpg 371w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-26-300x273.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px" />Mugshot of Juan Espinoza-Martinez (Credit: DHS)</div>
A federal judge declined to block Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-send-texas-national-guard-troops-to-quell-anti-ice-attacks-in-chicago?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+To+Send+Texas+National+Guard+Troops+To+Quell+Anti-ICE+Attacks+In+Chicago" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deployment</a> of troops to Chicago Monday, allowing the feds to send 200 Texas National Guard soldiers to quell anti-ICE violence across the sanctuary city while the case is ongoing. The next hearing in the case is set for Thursday, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/06/us/national-guard-trump-oregon-chicago" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the New York Times.
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Troops are expected to arrive in the Windy City Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the report.
Across the country, assaults on immigration agents have increased 1,000% in the past 8 months, according to DHS.
Illinois, however, has responded to the Trump administration’s move with a lawsuit as the sanctuary state’s governor, JB Pritzker, labels the deployment an “invasion.”
“The state of Illinois is going to use every lever at our disposal to resist this power grab and get [Kristi] Noem’s thugs the hell out of Chicago,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-allows-trump-to-deploy-troops-to-chicago-for-now">Pritzker said</a> in an afternoon press conference.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-signs-executive-order-establishing-ice-free-zones?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Chicago+Mayor+Brandon+Johnson+Signs+Executive+Order+Establishing+%E2%80%98ICE+Free+Zones%E2%80%99">responded</a> to the federal government’s actions Monday by establishing “ICE-free zones” across the city.

juan-espinoza-martinez_original

Gang Leader Arrested In Plot To Murder Chief Of Trump’s Illinois Deportation Raids

Chicago

gangs

Illegal Immigration

Illinois

An MS-13 gang member currently serving time for murder is now demanding to be &#8220;recognized&#8221; as a woman — and is suing the President of the United States to make that happen.
According to a <a href="https://reduxx.info/exclusive-transgender-ms-13-gang-member-convicted-in-killing-of-14-year-old-boy-files-discrimination-suit-against-donald-trump/">report</a> published on Sunday by Reduxx Magazine, Oscar Contreras Aguilar was sentenced to serve 21 years in prison for the kidnapping and murder of a 14-year-old. He has <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flmd.443587/gov.uscourts.flmd.443587.11.0.pdf">filed a lawsuit</a> against both President Donald Trump and the Bureau of Prisons, claiming that they have &#8220;refused to recognize&#8221; his gender identity.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨
A transgender ex-member of MS-13 is suing President Donald Trump for discrimination because the federal government &#8220;refuses to recognize&#8221; him as a woman.
Oscar Contreras Aguilar is serving a 21-year sentence for the murder of a teen boy.<a href="https://t.co/1ZGr4NUSA2">https://t.co/1ZGr4NUSA2</a>
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReduxxMag/status/1954923420996784293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Contreras Aguilar was a known member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) — a transnational criminal gang known for ruthlessness and brutality — under the alias &#8220;Atrevido.&#8221; He was arrested in 2017 in connection with the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/ms-13-gang-members-charged-connection-murders-juveniles">2016 murders</a> of 17-year-old Edvin Mendez — who was believed to be a member of a rival gang — and 14-year-old Sergio Triminio, who Contreras Aguilar and other members of MS-13 believed was cooperating with law enforcement.
It was not until 2024 — after filing a number of complaints alleging attempts on his life and other issues — that Contreras Aguilar took on the name Fendi G. Skyy and claimed to identify as female. He then began filing complaints stating that trans-identifying prisoners were mistreated in comparison to other prisoners.
&#8220;Transgender women prisoners in men&#8217;s prisons,&#8221; he claimed, are often met with &#8220;harsher, more degrading treatment than their cisgender counterparts.&#8221;
Prior to changing his identity, Contreras Aguilar claimed that fellow MS-13 members had attempted to kill him on several occasions after discovering that he had been acting as an informant. He also filed a legal complaint against then Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, claiming that he had been working as an informant in 2016 and 2017, and that his 21-year sentence had been issued as a result of a plea agreement.
&#8220;While in the community, [Contreras Aguilar] was working with the Suffolk County Police Department and the Long Island Gang Task Force of the FBI in New York as an informant,&#8221; the complaint read, in part.
That suit was dismissed in early 2024, and within months, Contreras Aguilar announced that he identified as a woman.

MS-13

MS-13 Member Serving Time For Murder Sues Trump To Be ‘Recognized’ As A Woman

MS-13 Member Serving Time For Murder Sues U.S. To Be 'Recognized' As A Woman

Gender Identity

MS-13 Gang

Politics

Transgender

Violent Crime

Let’s take a moment to examine how despicable the legacy media is.
Let’s contrast an actual heroic human being, the kind we need more of in America, the kind the media hates, with a person who&#8217;s awful, a person the media continue to tout.
First, the hero. His name is Edward Coristine and he was ripped up and down by the media when he first came onto the public scene. Why? Because he was working for Elon Musk&#8217;s Department of Governmental Efficiency and he was known as “Big Balls.’
According to the Left-wing media, the idea that you would have a young man who calls himself with this moniker, looking over the American budgetary system and saying, “This doesn&#8217;t belong and this does belong,” was the end of the world.
That was terrible. That was awful. We couldn&#8217;t have somebody like that working in our system.
But it turns out that Edward Coristine isn&#8217;t just a young genius who is capable of looking at budgetary numbers and figuring out where the waste, fraud, and abuse are. It turns out he is an amazing dude.
According to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/05/trump-administration-staffer-known-as-big-balls-assaulted-in-dc-00494990">Politico</a>:
<blockquote>A 19-year-old man known as “Big Balls” who played a key role in the DOGE initiative to shrink the size of government was assaulted over the weekend in Washington, according to city police. Edward Coristine, who still works for the government, was assaulted by approximately 10 juveniles near Dupont Circle about 3 a.m. Sunday, according to a police report obtained by POLITICO. Police arrested two 15-year olds as they attempted to flee the scene. 
A black iPhone 16 valued at $1,000 was also reported stolen during the incident, according to the report. President Donald Trump posted a photo on his social media platform showing a shirtless Coristine with what appeared to be blood spattered on his face, body and pants. He called for a change in the law so that the juveniles who attacked him could be charged as adults.</blockquote>
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114977985620971126">wrote</a>: 
<blockquote>Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control. Local “youths” and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released. They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now! The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these “minors” as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14. The most recent victim was beaten mercilessly by local thugs.  
Washington, D.C., must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see. If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore. Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!</blockquote>
What exactly happened here?
Apparently, Coristine said that the assailants approached him outside his vehicle while he was with a woman identified in the report as his significant other. He told police officers he got the other person into the vehicle just before he was attacked.
This young man made sure that the woman was not attacked. Elon Musk <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1952836498971344926">wrote</a> on X, “A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC. A @Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her. It is time to federalize DC.”
Remember, the media thought that this kid, this young man, was bad. He was bad because he was very online and he was young and he was smart, and he wanted to go through the governmental records. This was the kind of person we needed fewer of in America. According to our legacy media, “Big Balls” was the problem with America.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2255-the-ben-shapiro-show?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Meanwhile, the media was championing another young man, claiming that he is the kind of person America needs.
That would be Mahmoud Khalil.
Mahmoud Khalil, of course, was the import from abroad; an activist who hates America, who hates the West, who hates Israel, who is not only complicit in anti-Semitism, but is an anti-Semitic provocateur. He was imported to Columbia University to essentially act as an activist against the West, against America, against Israel and against Jews.
When the Trump administration looked at his participation in the violent student protests at Columbia, they decided to deport him. But a court stopped that deportation, and the entire Left rallied to his cause. He was a victim; America needed more Mahmoud Khalils.
Mahmoud Khalil is now out there on the talk circuit, and he sat with Ezra Klein over at the New York Times, where he promptly explained to Ezra Klein that essentially, October 7 was justified, that Israel had it coming, that there was no actual anti-Semitism at Columbia University or anything of the like.
According to the Left, this is the person, this Mahmoud Khalil, whom we need more of, and fewer of the “Big Balls” type of young men. We need more imports from third-world countries who hate America and hate Jews and make our country worse.
If you actually watch the entire interview with Ezra Klein, some of the things that Khalil said were astonishingly pro-terrorism.
At one point, he said, “Having lived in the Middle East most of my life” — he lived in Syria — “The only Jew you hear about is someone who&#8217;s trying to kill you. For those in Gaza and the West Bank, that&#8217;s the only Jewish person they encounter, the one at checkpoints, the one raiding their homes.”
Khalil didn&#8217;t grow up around Jews. He grew up in Syria. And yet he is openly stating that he grew up hating Jews.
And so he came to the United States. He found a bunch of Left-wing Jews like Jewish Voice for Peace — which is not Jewish or a voice for peace — and according to him, that&#8217;s what real Judaism is, which is an absurdity.
Khalil told Klein there was no anti-Semitism at Columbia. He said, “It&#8217;s not like anti-Semitism is happening at Columbia because of the Palestine movement,” which is, of course, a lie. And then he said, “From the river to the sea, from the Palestinian perspective, no one ever said it&#8217;s a violent call.” And then, of course, he defended “globalize the intifada.” He said October 7 was not an aggressive attack. He said it was just to break the cycle, that Palestinians were not being heard.
This Left-wing martyr is a pro-terror show. That&#8217;s always what he was.
But the Left insists that he be allowed into the country, and that not only that, we need more of these people in our country.
The contrast between the media vilification of this young white man who was working for the federal government to cut waste, fraud and abuse, the kind of person who will rush to a woman&#8217;s side to save her from being assaulted by thugs, and the absolutely kid-glove glowing treatment given to Mahmoud Khalil by Ezra Klein and the rest of the legacy media is astonishing and disgusting.
It speaks to not only what the media are, but what the Left has become. I will say it over and over and over again. The Left-wing is Zohran Mamdani. The Left-wing is not some moderate senator from Minnesota like Amy Klobuchar, who&#8217;s bad enough. It&#8217;s all Mamdani, period. It’s people like Khalil, who champions terrorism. That’s what the Left thinks is right for America.
But a genius kid who saves a woman from thugs and has a nickname they hate? He’s not right for America.
Their agenda could not be any more obvious. Or vicious.

US-POLITICS-MIGRANTS-KHALIL-EDUCATION-MIGRATION

America Needs ‘Big Balls,’ Not Mahmoud Khalil

America Needs 'Big Balls,' Not Mahmoud Khalil

Ben Shapiro

DOGE

Donald Trump

Hamas

Israel

Mahmoud Khalil

New York Times

October 7

Opinion

Washington D.C.

MixCollage-05-Aug-2025-04-11-PM-7120

Here’s The Horrifying Proof That All Cultures Are Not Equal

Child rape

Court

Immigrants

kidnapping

Matt Walsh

Minneapolis

Minnesota

Somalia

Melbourne at dusk

Leftists Come Up With Insane Solution To Migrant Crime

Australia

Crime

Leftists

Stabbing

Protestors Rally In Milwaukee After Judge’s Arrest By The FBI

The Trump Admin Arrests Dangerous, Power-Hungry Judge And The Media Has A Total Meltdown

Courts

Democrats

Judges

Legacy Media

Liberals

Milwaukee

President Trump

Wisconsin

The Trump administration is in the middle of a very hot fight with regard to a deported Salvadoran migrant, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant, had a deportation order placed on him. Then there was a withholding order that suggested he could not be sent back to El Salvador because Abrego Garcia claimed he feared for his life, that he would be killed in El Salvador because he&#8217;s a Salvadoran migrant with possible gang ties.
The court said the executive branch of the United States government had good cause to believe that Abrego Garcia might be a member of MS-13, a gang that President Trump has declared a terrorist organization.
Therefore, due to the withholding order, Abrego Garcia was not supposed to be on that plane, being deported back to El Salvador.
On April 4, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland directed the government to “facilitate and effectuate the return [of Abrego Garcia] to the United States.”
The Trump administration immediately filed an application to vacate the order.
The Supreme Court then ruled that the district court had the power to say that the United States government ought to “facilitate” his return to the United States, but they didn&#8217;t define the term “facilitate.” The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a949_lkhn.pdf">order stated</a>:
<blockquote>The application is granted in part and denied in part, subject to the direction of this order. Due to the administrative stay issued by THE CHIEF JUSTICE, the deadline imposed by the District Court has now passed. To that extent, the Government’s emergency application is effectively granted in part and the deadline in the challenged order is no longer effective. &#8230;
The order properly requires the Government to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. The intended scope of the term “effectuate” in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority. The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the Government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken and the prospect of further steps.</blockquote>
If that sounds vague, that’s because it&#8217;s incredibly vague. The government, under the Supreme Court order, apparently has a duty to “facilitate” his release from custody. But how exactly it&#8217;s effectuated, how that doesn&#8217;t infringe on the executive branch&#8217;s ability to perform deportations, is unclear.
That left the door open for the administration to claim, “When you say we need to ‘facilitate,’ we asked the Salvadorans and they said, ’No.’ So, I guess that&#8217;s us ‘facilitating.’”
The opposite case would be to basically demand that the Salvadoran government return this person to the United States, where he might get deported again.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2180-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Things are getting very hot because the case has been remanded back to the district court for clarification. That very often happens. The higher court will say that a lower court needs to look at a case again and clarify what exactly it meant before the Supreme Court decides whether it was right or whether it was wrong.
Xinis has now called for the testimony of Trump administration officials who work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department.
Many people across the political spectrum are saying Abrego Garcia deserves due process. And if you do the process wrong, and the court says you did the process wrong, you do actually have to facilitate his release back to the United States, not into the general population, but back to the authorities of the United States for more due process so they can check the boxes. Then the guy can be deported again.
Vice President Vance is taking the position that the administration is totally right not to facilitate due process in this particular case, essentially due to hardship.
Two things can be true at the same time: The Federal government should deport anybody who&#8217;s connected with MS-13, anybody who does not have American citizenship, who&#8217;s engaged in sympathy for anti-American views, or engages in action that is anti-American.
At the same time, there should be due process. Because if due process can be curbed for noncitizens, then due process could conceivably be curbed for citizens as well.
The question here is whether this legal fight is the fight that the administration wants to have.
It would be easy to tell the Salvadoran president to return Abrego Garcia, give him his day in court, and ship him out again. But the administration and the entire political Right have been conditioned to take the view that even admitting a mistake or doing a course-correction is a sign of weakness. That makes sense because the legacy media are willing to attack the Trump administration on any basis.
But sometimes it is better to just do the quick and easy thing and then move on to the actual priorities. In this case, it’s vital because with regard to immigration, there are important priorities.
The administration can take a legally dicey position and a politically popular position at the same time. Those two things can live in perfect harmony. Legally dicey and politically popular are constant aspects of many of the policy decisions made by leaders on both sides.
It&#8217;s a political winner for the Trump administration to say, “We want to deport illegal immigrants,” and force the Democrats into the position of defending illegal alien gang members or suspected gang members. That is a politically winning position.
But if you&#8217;re setting up a precedent where you actually want to get things done, you should be doing things the right way because it&#8217;s faster and easier to do it the right way than it is to do it the wrong way and then fight it out in the courts every step of the way.
You can win legally. You can do the right legal thing, which continues to give people the assurance that due process is carried out, gives the courts the assurance that due process is carried out, and also win the political fight.
One of the reasons I say the Trump administration should get out of its own way is that, legally, more pressing issues are occurring on the immigration front.
According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/15/doge-ssa-immigration-trump-housing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>, “The Trump administration is using personal data normally protected from dissemination to find undocumented immigrants where they work, study and live, often with the goal of removing them from their housing and the workforce.”
This is good and necessary. Those are the big battles the Trump administration needs to win.
Fighting the due process considerations for Abrego Garcia should not take precedence over the rest of the Trump agenda on immigration.

President Trump Meets With El Salvador President Nayib Bukele At The White House

Immigration Fight: Will The Salvadoran Illegal Immigrant Return?

El Salvador

illegal immigrants

JD Vance

Maryland

Supreme Court

Trump Administration

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem toured El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), where she was shown suspected members of Venezuela’s dangerous Tren de Aragua gang who were deported from the United States.
Noem posted a video from her tour on X on Wednesday, adding a warning to criminal illegal immigrants still residing in the U.S.
“I toured the CECOT, El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center,” Noem wrote on X. “President Trump and I have a clear message to criminal illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW. If you do not leave, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you could end up in this El Salvadorian prison.”
In the video, Noem tells immigrants not to come to the U.S. illegally and that the prison is “one of the tools in our toolkit.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I toured the CECOT, El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center.
President Trump and I have a clear message to criminal illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW.
If you do not leave, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you could end up in this El Salvadorian prison. <a href="https://t.co/OItDqNsFxM">pic.twitter.com/OItDqNsFxM</a>
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sec_Noem/status/1905034256826408982?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;First of all, do not come to our country illegally: You will be removed, and you will be prosecuted,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.&#8221;
Noem appears in the video standing in front of a massive prison cell filled to the brim with tattooed men in white prison pants with their heads shaved. Men can be seen standing behind her, as well as sitting on three levels of shelves.
CECOT is infamous for housing members of dangerous Central and South American gang members – and for its dehumanizing conditions, such as brutality and overcrowding, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/16/us-news/first-flight-of-250-migrant-gang-members-arrive-in-el-salvador-to-be-held-in-notorious-mega-prison/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Inmates are provided only minimal meals of beans and pasta, with rival gangs fighting regularly over the scarce resource. Inmates are also crammed into overcrowded cells nearly 24 hours a day.
The conditions are deliberate in an attempt to deter would-be gangsters.
Noem toured the prison with Héctor Gustavo Villatoro, El Salvador’s Minister of Justice, before she met with President Nayib Bukele to negotiate to send more alleged gang members from the United States.
The CECOT, which opened in 2023, currently holds 15,000 inmates but can hold up to 40,000, with as many as 65 to 70 in each cell, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-tour-notorious-el-salvador-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Prisoners are not allowed outside, and they cannot have visitors. The prison has no educational programs.
In February, Bukele offered to house criminal illegal immigrants for a “relatively low” fee after Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/el-salvador-offers-to-house-american-criminals-in-its-prisons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time.
“We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system,” Bukele said at the time.
“We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee,” he continued, adding that the fee “would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”

Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem Tours El Salvador’s Gang Prison Before Threatening To Deport More Criminals

Kristi Noem Tours El Salvador’s Gang Prison Before Threatening To Deport More Gangsters

World

A federal judge in Washington DC has attempted to block the president from deporting illegal alien members of a murderous Venezuelan prison gang. No, really. President Trump had the planeload of tattooed murderers flown off to El Salvador, citing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The act, passed by the American founders, allows the president to summarily deport illegal alien rapist murderers but only in the unlikely event a mean-spirited corruptocrat suffering from dementia should one day become president and allow said murderers to cross the border in droves at the behest of anti-American leftist conspirators while the media pretends it isn&#8217;t happening because the only book any of them has ever read is by a communist named Howard Zinn who believes the United States should never have existed in the first place. The founding fathers were nothing if not far-sighted. 
However, federal District Judge Rufus T. Shnooklepuss declared that Trump did not have the authority to deport illegal aliens who are members of one of the most violent gangs on the face of the earth, and ordered that the gangsters&#8217; plane be immediately returned to the United States or, failing that, an alternative group of alien gangsters should be found to replace the ones who were deported, or, failing that, an equal number of American gangsters should be taught to speak Spanish and armed with guns and axes so that the crimes the Venezuelan gangsters would have committed do not go undone. 
Judge Shnooklepuss told the administration, “It is absolutely outrageous that a group of perfectly innocent illegal aliens should be accused of being violent gang-members on the basis of no more evidence than the screaming skull tattoos on their eyeballs and the t-shirts bearing the words ‘I joined a Venezuelan prison gang and all I got was this lousy t-shirt plus the $15,000 I collected from apartment dwellers outside of Denver after their landlord fell off the roof in seven different pieces.’” 
The judge continued, saying, “These gangsters came to our country to build a better life for themselves and their families by doing the atrocities American gangsters won’t do. And it is completely unacceptable that the president should simply toss them out on the basis of an outmoded 18th century law we no longer respect or follow like the Alien Enemies Act or the Constitution. This is not a country of crinkly old laws passed by men who wore wigs and wrote with feathers. This is a new, woke, modern country of 4,000 page laws that no one including the Supreme Court has ever read but which are enforced by unelected bureaucrats in agencies that never should have been created in the first place but can now never be destroyed because, after all, that’s the law or might be the law if I had time to read it, but I&#8217;m too busy re-reading this great book by Howard Zinn.”
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h3>
Administration officials said they wanted to obey the judge’s order but they could not demand the deportation jet to return right away because the Alien Enemies Act does not mention jets and so they weren’t sure the jet fell under their authority. The officials said they had tried to check the wording of the law but a Secret Service dog had eaten it and while they were chasing the dog around the White House trying to get the law back, the jet entered international airspace so that the pilots were now only allowed to speak Esperanto. And before officials could locate an Esperanto-speaker, the jet landed in El Salvador where the gang-members were duly processed into the local prison and then given a decent Christian burial.
Democrats scheduled a protest march against the deportations to take place right after their protest march against the administration’s ban on child sexual mutilation, and right before their protest march against cutting waste and fraud, and possibly in conjunction with their protest march against closing the border from an invasion of unvetted illegals, which was to be followed by a meeting to discuss why Democrats are so unpopular nowadays. 
President Trump could not be reached for comment because he was busy brokering a ceasefire in Ukraine, an effort which a federal judge in Washington DC has declared unconstitutional.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Follow him on X: @andrewklavan
Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fourth installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613165536?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_3&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Woman Underground.</a>” His most recent nonfiction release is “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=nMYjR&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_p=bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_r=133-8344803-2786917&amp;pd_rd_wg=7a8J3&amp;pd_rd_r=5791ea0f-6d96-4732-9d6a-3a4e6b348bb5&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness.</a>” (May 2025, Zondervan/HarperCollins).

Salvadoran Government Receives 238 Alleged Members Of Criminal Organizations ‘Tren De Aragua’ and ‘MS13’

Rogue Judge Orders Immediate Return Of World’s Most Violent Gang Members

Andrew Klavan

Humor

Satire

President Donald Trump posted video on Sunday of criminal illegal aliens arriving in El Salvador after his administration deported 250 of them despite an order <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/obama-appointed-judge-planes-deporting-tren-de-aragua-terrorists-return-to-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued Saturday</a> by an Obama-appointed federal judge.
Trump&#8217;s team shared video of the prisoners exiting the planes along with a statement the president had posted on his Truth Social platform: &#8220;These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they! Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen in the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership. We will not forget!&#8221;
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<a href="https://t.co/5CY3zktsfS">pic.twitter.com/5CY3zktsfS</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1901416490739347792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The deportees, upon arrival in El Salvador, were delivered to a mega-prison according to and agreement between the Trump administration and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
<div id="attachment_892591" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-892591" class="wp-image-892591 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881352-864x576.jpg" alt="SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - MARCH 16: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - 'EL SALVADOR PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) More than 250 suspected gang members arrive in El Salvador by plane, including 238 members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and 23 members of the MS-13 gang, who were deported to El Salvador by the US in San Salvador, El Salvador on March 16, 2025. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed they will be sent to the country's infamous mega-prison at CECOP facility prison. San Salvador forces took heavy security measures. (Photo by El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881352-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881352-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881352-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881352.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images</div>
<div id="attachment_892593" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-892593" class="wp-image-892593 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204880948-864x576.jpg" alt="SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - MARCH 16: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - 'EL SALVADOR PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) More than 250 suspected gang members arrive in El Salvador by plane, including 238 members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and 23 members of the MS-13 gang, who were deported to El Salvador by the US in San Salvador, El Salvador on March 16, 2025. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed they will be sent to the country's infamous mega-prison at CECOP facility prison. San Salvador forces took heavy security measures. (Photo by El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204880948-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204880948-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204880948-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204880948.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images</div>
<div id="attachment_892597" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-892597" class="wp-image-892597 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881032-864x576.jpg" alt="SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - MARCH 16: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - 'EL SALVADOR PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) More than 250 suspected gang members arrive in El Salvador by plane, including 238 members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and 23 members of the MS-13 gang, who were deported to El Salvador by the US in San Salvador, El Salvador on March 16, 2025. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed they will be sent to the country's infamous mega-prison at CECOP facility prison. San Salvador forces took heavy security measures. (Photo by El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881032-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881032-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881032-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881032.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images</div>
<div id="attachment_892599" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-892599" class="wp-image-892599 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881115-864x576.jpg" alt="SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - MARCH 16: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT - 'EL SALVADOR PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) More than 250 suspected gang members arrive in El Salvador by plane, including 238 members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and 23 members of the MS-13 gang, who were deported to El Salvador by the US in San Salvador, El Salvador on March 16, 2025. El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed they will be sent to the country's infamous mega-prison at CECOP facility prison. San Salvador forces took heavy security measures. (Photo by El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881115-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881115-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881115-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/GettyImages-2204881115.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images</div>
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shared some details about the deportations, which occurred on Saturday, including a list of the crimes allegedly committed by those who were flown to El Salvador.
&#8220;Per a senior Trump admin official, there were 261 illegal aliens deported to El Salvador yesterday,&#8221; Melugin explained. &#8220;137 via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 101 were Venezuelans removed via Title 8 (regular immigration proceedings) 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members 2 were &#8216;special cases&#8217; for El Salvador (Bukele posted that the U.S. returned two MS-13 ringleaders to El Salvador) Some of the rap sheets for those removed include the following: Kidnapping; Sexual abuse of a child; Robbery; Aggravated assault on a police officer.&#8221;
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White House Press Secretary <a href="https://twitter.com/karolineleavitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@karolineleavitt</a> responds to allegations that the Trump admin violated a federal court order by not turning the deportation flights around:
“The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was…
&mdash; Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillMelugin_/status/1901388028742144200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Melugin also included a statement from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who argued that the administration had not defied the judge&#8217;s order because their position was that the order was not lawful.
&#8220;The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict,&#8221; Leavitt posted.
&#8220;Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion. A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,&#8221; she continued.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also shared some details about the prisoners who were deported to El Salvador on Saturday, revealing that more than 230 were members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua and another 21 were MS-13 members.
&#8220;On this occasion, the U.S. has also sent us 23 MS-13 members wanted by Salvadoran justice, including two ringleaders. One of them is a member of the criminal organization’s highest structure. This will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors,&#8221; Bukele posted.
&#8220;As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action. &#8220;May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.&#8221;
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Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable).
The United States will pay a very low fee for them,… <a href="https://t.co/tfsi8cgpD6">pic.twitter.com/tfsi8cgpD6</a>
&mdash; Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) <a href="https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1901245427216978290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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US deports over 250 alleged gang members to El Salvador’s mega-prison

‘These Are The Monsters’: Trump Admin Deported Over 250 Gang Members To El Salvador

'These Are The Monsters': Trump Admin Deported Over 250 Gang Members To El Salvador

Tren De Aragua

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a> (ICE) agents &#8220;targeted&#8221; more than 100 members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) in Aurora, Colorado, on Wednesday.
The federal agents — which included officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI — went door-to-door to speak to residents at an apartment complex in Aurora, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/ice-raid-aurora-arrests-venezuelan-gang/story?id=118483334" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Aurora made headlines last year after a Republican city official <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/co-city-official-sounds-alarm-on-venezuelan-gang-takeover-entire-complexes-under-gang-control" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sounded the alarm</a> on TdA members taking over some apartment complexes in the Denver suburb.
ICE did not specify how many arrests were made at the complex, adding that the investigation is &#8220;ongoing.&#8221;
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100+ members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were targeted for arrest and detention in Aurora, Colo., today by ICE and its partners <a href="https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DEAHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DEAHQ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ATFHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ATFHQ</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/USMarshalsHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USMarshalsHQ</a> in an ongoing investigation. <a href="https://t.co/LzIVDjsee6">pic.twitter.com/LzIVDjsee6</a>
&mdash; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICEgov/status/1887170936819925317?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Fernando Martinez, a 54-year-old man who was not arrested in the raid, told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/02/05/colorado-ice-raid-targets-immigrant-gang-members/78248926007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a> that he was sleeping in one of his friend&#8217;s apartments at Cedar Run Apartments when ICE agents busted down the door.
&#8220;They come in with their guns drawn,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They flash banged me like three times.&#8221;
Acting Director Caleb Vitello said on Wednesday that the raid was necessary because local authorities are refusing to work with federal immigration agents.
“Unfortunately we have to come to the communities because we don’t get the cooperation that we need from the jails,” Vitello said. “It would be so much easier and so much safer for our officers and agents if we could take these people into custody from a safe environment. But if we have to come out in the community to do this, that’s what we’re going to do.”
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Time and again, criminal aliens prey on their own communities with sanctuary policies, knowing they’re free to commit crimes without repercussion. ICE &amp; its partners <a href="https://twitter.com/FBI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DEAHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DEAHQ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ATFHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ATFHQ</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/USMarshalsHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USMarshalsHQ</a> are in Aurora, Colo., today to remove this very real public safety threat. <a href="https://t.co/L0KtxySl0f">pic.twitter.com/L0KtxySl0f</a>
&mdash; ERO Denver (@ERODenver) <a href="https://twitter.com/ERODenver/status/1887179376430641228?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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After Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky brought attention to the gang&#8217;s activity in Aurora last August, Fox News obtained <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-shows-armed-men-walking-through-co-apt-building-after-official-warned-of-venezuelan-gang-takeover" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> showing armed men walking through an Aurora apartment building and entering an apartment after knocking on the door with guns drawn. Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, however, dismissed the concerns over TdA taking over any apartments, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/co-dem-governor-says-alleged-migrant-gang-takeover-of-apartments-is-imagination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> the &#8220;purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.&#8221;
President Donald Trump quickly ramped up arrests and deportations of violent illegal immigrants after being sworn into office on January 20, and it&#8217;s not the first time Aurora has been targeted in a large raid under the Trump administration. Last month, DEA agents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dea-busts-dozens-of-illegal-aliens-tren-de-aragua-members-in-colorado-raid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">busted nearly 50</a> members of associates of TdA at a makeshift nightclub in Aurora, where authorities seized drugs, weapons, and cash.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE Targets Over 100 Venezuelan Gang Members In Raid At Aurora, Colorado, Apartment Complex

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

U.S.

Venezuela

There’s a common joke online that says the difference between a conspiracy theory and reality is only a couple of weeks. That principle proved to be true in 2024.
Throughout the past year, the media constantly jumped into “fact check” conservatives by downplaying concerns about President Joe Biden’s health, the presence of Venezuelan illegal immigrant gangs in the United States, and claiming any concerns about FEMA not helping conservatives were unfounded. As usual, the media were proved to be very wrong on each of those issues.
So, here are three of the biggest “conspiracies” that ended up coming true in the last year:
<h3>“Biden Will Drop Out And Another Candidate Will Take His Place”</h3>
<div id="attachment_768029" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-768029" class="size-large wp-image-768029" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-2159612774-864x576.jpg" alt="ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 27: U.S. President Joe Biden (R) and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. President Biden and former President Trump are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-2159612774-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-2159612774-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-2159612774-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-2159612774.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.</div>
Even before he became president, conservatives were drawing attention to Biden&#8217;s declining mental acuity and physical struggles. As Biden’s presidency began, these concerns continued to percolate among conservatives throughout Biden’s stumbles and falls and slurring words.
The legacy media largely downplayed these concerns and some even said that he was in the best condition of his life.
“I’ve said it for years now, he’s cogent,” MSNBC host Joe Scarborough <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-scarborough-praises-best-biden-ever-says-to-critics-f-you-if-you-cant-handle-the-truth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in March 2024. “But I under-sold him when I said he was cogent. He’s far beyond cogent. In fact, I think he’s better than he’s ever been — intellectually, analytically — because he’s been around for fifty years.”
Despite the media ignoring Biden’s mental state, many conservatives still believed that Biden would be replaced by another candidate by the time Election Day rolled around. This belief was labeled as a “conspiracy” by NBC News.
In October 2023, NBC ran a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/republicans-float-conspiracy-theory-biden-wont-ballot-rcna121467" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headline</a> saying “Republicans float a quiet conspiracy theory that Biden won&#8217;t be on the ballot.”
“Though no incumbent president has declined to seek a second term since Lyndon Johnson in 1969, there is an unfounded conversation among a faction on the political right that goes something like this: Democratic power brokers will intervene at the last minute to replace a weakened 80-year-old Biden with someone else as the party’s nominee,” the outlet reported.
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The outlet added that the theory was not a “mainstream thought within the Republican Party, but it has maintained a persistent foothold among a relevant chunk of the GOP base taking their cues from some party officials who continue to toy with the idea.”
Just months later, this “unfounded” conspiracy theory came true shortly after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-go-into-full-blown-panic-after-biden-debate-performance-swap-joe-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disastrous debate</a> performance in June of 2024 against Donald Trump. During the debate, Biden’s decline was broadcast for all to see as he delivered raspy and mumbling answers.
Three weeks later, Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-drops-out-of-presidential-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> he was dropping out of the race, saying he would be endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
<h3>“Venezuelan Gangs Are Taking Over U.S. Cities”</h3>
<div id="attachment_846035" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-846035" class="size-large wp-image-846035" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-473344176-1024x576.jpg" alt="DENVER, CO. - May 14, 2015: Denver SWAT ready to arrest two people on felony warrants after they barricaded themselves in a home at 4646 Logan St, Globeville. They suspects surrendered to SWAT. Denver May 14, 2015 Denver, CO" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-473344176-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-473344176-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-473344176-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-473344176-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-473344176-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Joe Amon / The Denver Post via Getty Images</div>
After videos emerged of reported gang violence being perpetrated by members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Colorado, legacy media figures and political officials rushed to downplay fears about the gang activity.
The situation exploded onto the national scene after Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-shows-armed-men-walking-through-co-apt-building-after-official-warned-of-venezuelan-gang-takeover" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> that gang members had taken over apartment complexes in the area. Video later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-shows-armed-men-walking-through-co-apt-building-after-official-warned-of-venezuelan-gang-takeover">showed</a> armed men walking through an Aurora apartment building with guns drawn and entering an apartment after knocking on the door.
Despite the footage, Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis’ office <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/co-dem-governor-says-alleged-migrant-gang-takeover-of-apartments-is-imagination" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the “purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.”
The media also pushed back on the concerns after the Trump campaign amplified the warnings, alluding to concerns as “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-debate-venezuelan-gangs-colorado-rcna170255" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rumors</a>” and accused them of making “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vance-stands-trumps-false-claims-venezuelan-gangs-aurora/story?id=114751512" target="_blank" rel="noopener">false claims</a>” about the situation.
However, the concerns appeared to be validated earlier this month after the Aurora Police Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/19-suspected-venezuelan-illegal-alien-gangsters-detained-at-colorado-apartment-complex" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detained</a> 19 suspected illegal alien gang members from Venezuela at an apartment complex.
Police said that more than a dozen armed gang members accosted a male and female victim at the Edge at Lowry Apartments and forced them into a different unit at the complex.
This came after ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz pushed back on the Trump campaign, telling Vice President-elect JD Vance that the “incidents were limited to a handful of apartment complexes.”
“Martha, do you hear yourself?” Vance responded. “Only ‘a handful of apartment complexes’ in America were taken over by Venezuelan gangs, and Donald Trump is the problem and not Kamala Harris’ open border?”
It is now reported that members of Tren de Aragua <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/violent-venezuelan-gang-tren-aragua-090027999.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are active</a> in at least 19 states across the country.
<h3>“FEMA Is Discriminating Against Trump Supporters”</h3>
<div id="attachment_842641" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-842641" class="size-large wp-image-842641" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2043599653-1-865x576.jpg" alt="DEARBORN, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 27: A sign for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is displayed in a yard on primary election day on February 27, 2024 in Dearborn, Michigan. The Michigan Democratic and Republican parties held their primary elections today. Republican presidential candidate, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley has vowed to stay in the race at least through Super Tuesday on March 5." width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2043599653-1-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2043599653-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2043599653-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2043599653-1.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Credit: Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images.</div>
Shortly after Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated the Southeast, fears began circulating that federal authorities were slow-walking their response because of the conservative political leanings of many of the victims.
In Roan Mountain, Tennessee, for example, locals <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-a-small-tennessee-town-survived-helene-after-the-emergency-response-floundered">told</a> The Daily Wire it took nearly two weeks for FEMA to show up. The town is located in Carter County, which <a href="https://www.politico.com/2024-election/results/tennessee/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted 81%</a> for Trump on Tuesday. 
Trump was especially critical of the federal response, arguing that his supporters were being targeted.
“I’ll be there shortly, but don’t like the reports that I’m getting about the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas,” Trump said.
Outlets like the New York Times were quick to jump in and “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/04/us/politics/trump-helene-fema-fact-check.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact check</a>” Trump for his “false” claims.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell responded to the concerns by calling them completely incorrect.
“It’s frankly ridiculous, and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,” Criswell <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-fema-hurricane-helene-conspiracy-theories-criswell-07d5b1f6968cb2af11b63357186a1a15" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “It’s really a shame that we’re putting politics ahead of helping people, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
Just weeks later, Trump proved to be correct after The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that a FEMA supervisor in Lake Placid, Florida, ordered relief workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
This directive led to at least 20 homes being skipped over as relief workers offered help to Hurricane Milton victims. FEMA responded to The Daily Wire’s report by firing the employee who issued the guidance and claiming the incident was “isolated.”
Criswell was also called to testify to Congress about the incident and request an Inspector General investigation into the guidance.
Since that time, more whistleblowers have alleged similar misconduct by FEMA in both Georgia and North Carolina.

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