Bruce Grilled About Trump Deportations: ‘What Rights Do People Have’ In The El Salvador Prison?

yesterday

During Friday's State Department Press Briefing, Spokesperson Tammy Bruce discussed President Trump's deportations and the rights they are granted by the State Department while being held in El Salvador prisons.

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Transcript

00:00Andrea Mitchell.

00:01Hi.

00:02Thank you so much, Tammy.

00:04The President acknowledged today that if there are mistakes that were made in taking some

00:10of the people to El Salvador, in the identifications of people, that they will be corrected.

00:16What are the efforts or the obligation of the State Department to follow up some of

00:21the complaints from families that their relatives were taken and are not gang members and are

00:27not, do not have a violent history, to follow up with El Salvador?

00:31What rights do people have once they are taken to El Salvador and they're in that prison

00:37under human rights and under State Department procedures when they are taken under the rubric

00:45of national security?

00:46Well, a few things, of course.

00:48I don't speak for the White House or the President.

00:51He had some great comments to make earlier today, as you know, as you're referencing.

00:56And I think his comments speak for themselves.

00:58I also can't speak about the individuals who have been transported or legal mechanisms

01:05or diplomatic mechanisms regarding their status.

01:09But what I can say is that our relationship with President Bukele is excellent, that this

01:13isn't a situation where there's no communication or a relationship that doesn't continue on

01:19with El Salvador or the President.

01:21And of course, this is an issue that we also continue to focus on.

01:25So that, I can tell you, is if the President mentioned it, I think that sends a signal,

01:30if not more so, about his commitment and the nature of what he knows and what he says he's

01:35going to do about it.

01:36And that's where we're going to leave it.

01:37Well, let me just follow up, because the video, certainly, that was taken by El Salvador showed

01:41some harsh treatment.

01:43Does the U.S. feel any obligation in terms of human rights or legal authority when people

01:51are taken to another country, to a prison, to follow up on what the conditions are in

01:55which they're being held?

01:56Well, again, that is also DHS.

01:59It's not the State Department's purview in that kind of framework.

02:03Even the removing of people from the country is not the State Department's purview.

02:07That's a question for the DHS, but it's certainly not something I can even speculate on or I'm

02:14not going to speak on the nature of El Salvador's process and how it handles the nature of the

02:19people that they repatriated.

02:20It was taken under the authority of the Secretary of State.

02:24And that was implemented by the Department of Homeland Security.

02:26So yes.

02:27All right.

02:28Now, Jen?

02:29Yes.

Bruce Grilled About Trump Deportations: ‘What Rights Do People Have’ In The El Salvador Prison?

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