Kristi Noem’s El Salvador Prison Photo Op Is a New Low

On Wednesday evening, a federal appeals court upheld a block on the Trump administration’s plans to deport immigrants under a centuries-old wartime law, which the administration recently invoked to send planes full of Venezuelan migrants to a hellacious El Salvadoran prison.

But just hours after the order came down, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a video from inside the same draconian prison, promising to send even more migrants there in the future.

“If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face,” Noem said, posing in front of a crowded cell filled with shirtless, tattooed prisoners. “This facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.”

Noem has staged a lot of photo ops since becoming the head of DHS. Her cowboy-hat-wearing horseback ride with ICE agents and leather-jacket-wearing flight on a Coast Guard aircraft have earned her the nickname “Cosplay Kristi” in some circles. But even in light of these stunts, Noem’s trip to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center represents a remarkable doubling down by an administration currently locked in a legal battle over its decision to let two planes full of Venezuelan migrants proceed to El Salvador despite a court order demanding the planes turn around.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt deportations of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows for swift deportations during times of war or invasion by another foreign government. In his remarks from the bench, Judge James Boasberg said any plane “that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished.”

But those planes did not return. The Trump administration has since justified letting the flights continue by insisting that it wasn’t bound by the judge’s oral remarks, only his written order. Earlier this week, the administration refused to share details about the flights in question, arguing that doing so would “undermine or impede future counterterrorism operations.” And President Donald Trump has himself called for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg.

In the midst of all of this, Noem’s visit to the prison is a brazen provocation. In the video, Noem thanked the El Salvadoran government for allowing the US “to bring our terrorists here.” The Trump administration has accused the people who were deported without court proceedings of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

But the families of the men have increasingly stepped forward to vehemently deny that characterization. Some of the detained men and their families contend that they were deported based solely on their tattoos, according to Mother Jones. Indeed, according to the Associated Press, during Noem’s visit to the prison, guards instructed the men in the cell behind her to remove their shirts, revealing their tattoos. (Meanwhile, as Noem was busy getting the shot, her Department was reportedly also weighing whether to gut FEMA’s role in disaster relief efforts back on the homefront).

Judge Boasberg has yet to rule on the underlying merits of the case—whether the Trump administration was justified in invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport this group in the first place. But during the appeals court hearing about the temporary ban earlier this week, one judge in the case made her view of the administration’s rushed actions clear. “Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act,” the judge said.