Dozens of tattooed, shaven-headed criminals were inspected by Kristi Noem, Donald Trump’s homeland security chief, during a visit to the El-Salvadorian ‘mega-prison’. Ms Noem visited the prison housing hundreds of Venezuelans recently deported from America on Wednesday. Standing in front of the inmates who were tightly packed into their cells and stripped to the waist, Ms Noem touted the controversial prison as “one of the tools in our toolkit” as the White House tries to drive down immigration. Ms Noem marked a striking contrast to the inmates behind her, with her long hair tucked under a navy Department of Homeland Security cap and a gold watch on her wrist. “Do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed and you will be prosecuted,” she said during a photo-call at the maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). “Know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.” Her visit comes after Mr Trump invoked rarely used US wartime legislation in mid-March to bypass traditional deportation procedures to fly 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador. The government accused the deportees of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, which it has designated a “terrorist” organisation, but relatives and lawyers for several of the migrants say they have no connection to the group. The deportations took place despite a US federal judge, on the same day, ordering a temporary halt. The Trump administration subsequently appealed, but a three-judge panel ruled on Wednesday that it could remain in effect. On Monday, a law firm hired by Caracas filed a habeas corpus petition, demanding justification be provided for the migrants’ continued detention. Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan President, said the motion seeks the release of countrymen he described as having been kidnapped. Their incarceration in the notorious prison comes after Mr Trump struck a $6m deal with the country to detain US deportees. During her visit, Ms Noem is due to meet president Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally, to discuss how the US “can increase the number of deportation flights and removals of violent criminals from the US”. She will also visit Colombia and Mexico. CECOT, which, with the capacity for 40,000 inmates is said to be Latin America’s biggest prison, formed an integral part of Mr Bukele’s hardline security policy to combat the country’s gangs. Guarded by soldiers and police, the jail has high electrified walls, and inmates are denied family visits. The $115m 23-hectare prison, which is around 30 minutes from the capital San Salvador, opened in 2023 and is said to house thousands of the country’s most violent gang members. Mr Bukele, who has described himself as the world’s “coolest dictator”, has overseen the arrest of more than 86,000 people since he declared a state of emergency in March 2022. This includes alleged members of El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13, and its rival, Barrio 18, but several thousand were found to be innocent. In a statement from the US embassy in San Salvador, the US said that Ms Noem had signed an information sharing agreement with Salvadoran Minister of Justice and Security Gustavo Villatoro. “This agreement strengthens the commitment of both countries in the fight against transnational crime,” the embassy said. Rights group Amnesty International said the mass expulsion “represents not only a flagrant disregard of the United States’ human rights obligations, but also a dangerous step toward authoritarian practices.” It said there was “a clear and troubling connection” between Mr Bukele’s methods and the recent US actions, as “both rely on a lack of due process and the criminalisation of individuals based on discriminatory criteria.”