National security adviser Mike Waltz defended President Donald Trump‘s authority on how terrorists “should be treated.”
Days have passed since El Salvador received 238 of the immigrants deported from the U.S. This group included Venezuelans with alleged association with the Tren de Aragua gang. Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele received them at the terrorism confinement center Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, which he built since entering office. All prisoners will stay there for a minimum of one year.
While the flights that brought the illegal immigrants to the CECOT were disputed in court and public opinion, Waltz appeared on Fox News’s Fox and Friends Wednesday to defend the move. As national security adviser, he lamented that the deportation of terrorists is up for debate in the first place.
“Tren de Aragua has been labeled a terrorist organization. They are no different than ISIS. They maim, kill, torture, create mayhem and chaos on our streets in the United States. And I think if you had some of those, you know, tattooed, shaved-head men labeled ISIS, then we wouldn’t even be having this debate,” Waltz said.
“So this is about a wholesale shift on what a terrorist is and how they should be treated in the United States, how they should be treated when they’re attacking our soil and when they’re violating our sovereignty and when they’re terrorizing our citizens,” Waltz went on “And of course that is going to present an Article II, Article III in the Constitution conflict, but really that’s, that’s what this is. And this is squarely under the commander in chief’s authority to keep Americans safe. And I’m telling you, that’s how most Americans see it.”
JUDGE WHO BLOCKED DEPORTATION FLIGHTS ‘DEFIES LOGIC’: TOM HOMAN
Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling Saturday night that prohibited deportation flights for the next 14 days while he oversees a case involving five immigrants with active deportation orders. The Trump administration went through with the deportations as the planes were already airborne when Boasberg’s ruling came out.
While Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment, Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts issued a statement disagreeing with the president on removing the judge based solely on his latest ruling.