Could Mexicans in the United States be deported to El Salvador and locked up in President Nayib Bukele’s mega-prison? When will acapulqueños be able to get from A to B via a ferry service that traverses Acapulco’s glistening bay?
They were among the questions President Claudia Sheinbaum responded to at her Tuesday morning press conference.
We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador. Also, as promised by @POTUS, we sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 16, 2025
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has begun taking custody of certain deportees from the U.S. into a giant, overcrowded, maximum-security prison known as CECOT, or the Terrorism Confinement Center.
Here is a recap of the president’s March 18 mañanera.
Mexicans deported from US ‘will always arrive to Mexico,’ says Sheinbaum
A reporter asked the president whether there was any possibility that Mexicans in the United States could be deported and sent to prison in El Salvador, as happened on Sunday to 238 Venezuelans who are alleged members of the Tren de Aragua crime gang.
Sheinbaum noted that when the Trump administration announced it would send some illegal and criminal immigrants to a detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, the Mexican government sent a diplomatic note to the United States Embassy in Mexico.
She said her government sent the note to express its view to the Trump administration that “no Mexican should be sent anywhere except Mexico.”
“They responded to the diplomatic note saying that as Mexico was accepting repatriated persons, [deported Mexicans] would return to Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
“So we have certainty that any [Mexican] person in the United States that is deported … will always arrive to Mexico,” she said.
Sheinbaum said Monday that Mexico has received 24,413 deportees — 19,846 Mexicans and 4,567 foreigners — from the United States since U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20.
Anti-government bots ‘don’t have much impact’
After the federal government’s fake news debunker-in-chief Miguel Ángel Elorza Vásquez denounced the use of “opposition bots” to attack the government on social media, Sheinbaum weighed in on the issue.
“The truth is that they don’t have much impact,” she said, noting that she won last year’s presidential election by more than 30 points despite a lengthy social media campaign against her that made use of hashtags such as #NarcoCandidata (#NarcoCandidate).
“In any case, it’s very important to denounce it because someone is allocating resources [to attacking us on social media],” Sheinbaum said.
Recently, the government has been attacked on the X social media platform in connection with the Teuchitlán case involving the discovery this month of burnt human remains along with more than 150 pairs of shoes and other discarded personal items at a property in the state of Jalisco.
Bots have driven the recent campaign against the government using hashtags such as #NarcoPresidenteAMLO and #NarcoPresidentaClaudia, according to Elorza.
He said that 20 million pesos (US $1 million) was spent on “this dirty campaign” in a period of just four days, he said.
Sheinbaum remarked: “Where [do they get] 20 million pesos in four days in order to make a trending topic, a fake trending topic?”
Aquatic public transport coming to Acapulco
A reporter asked the president about the “Maribús” (Sea Bus) public transport project she announced in January.
Sheinbaum said that the Maribús — which will ferry passengers to different parts of Acapulco and nearby coastal areas — “will be ready this year.”
She confirmed that the project is part of the long-term, 8-billion-peso hurricane recovery plan called “Transforming Acapulco with You.”
“We’re going to ask the admiral to come so that you see what the main stops are,” Sheinbaum said, referring to Navy Minister Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles.
“First, there will be a first phase that will be inaugurated this year, and then a second phase will come. The navy will operate [the ferry service]. If workers are needed, they’ll be hired,” she said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies ([email protected])
