• Last summer, my partner and I backpacked through Central America for 12 days.
• Although I loved the trip, I wish we'd visited Lake Atitlán during our stay in Guatemala.
• Next time, I'd also choose to stay in hostels more frequently to save money.

Last August, my partner and I spent 12 days traveling through Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

The trip was filled with amazing new experiences — like watching Acatenango, a twin-peaked volcano, erupt during a thunderstorm — but it had some drawbacks, too.

Although I loved my time in Central America, there are five things I'd do differently next time.

I'd extend our time in Guatemala to visit Lake Atitlán.

During our first stop to Antigua, Guatemala, we met several people who were headed to Lake Atitlán, which is one of the most frequently visited spots in the country.

The lake, which is about three hours away from Antigua, was formed over 80,000 years ago by a volcanic eruption.

Those who had traveled there before raved about its beauty, and I quickly started to experience major FOMO from not planning a stop. I think it would've been a great opportunity to further experience the country's natural beauty.

Looking back, it would've been nice to have relaxing activities planned after intense excursions.

After our overnight hike on Acatenango, we returned to Antigua for our last night in the city.

We relaxed and enjoyed dirty chai lattes at a café before leaving again for a scheduled ghost tour. Looking back, though, we should've thought about how tired we'd be, even after a full day of rest.

We decided to cut the tour short to go somewhere more low-key: Ulew Cocktail Bar. Here, bartenders used our drink preferences to create tailored cocktails just for us.

If I could replan this day, I would've skipped the ghost tour and opted for a more relaxing activity like watching the sunset at Cerro de la Cruz before stopping by the bar.

Next time, I'd spend an extra day at the Mizata by Antiresort in El Salvador.

I fell in love with saunas a couple of years back, and I wish I'd rearranged our trip to experience the Temazcal Útero ceremony while we stayed at the Mizata by Antiresort in El Salvador.

In a temazcal, participants are guided by a shaman in meditation and chanting while heated volcanic stones soaked with herb-infused water create steam.

The ceremonies are only held on Saturdays, so I recommend planning ahead if you want to participate.

Instead of hotels, I'd save money by staying in hostels.

I stayed at my first hostel, the Selina Granada in Nicaragua, during this trip and loved it. In fact, I wish we'd stayed in hostels more frequently to help keep the trip more affordable.

I think we could've easily saved $150 by booking a hostel during our time in San Salvador, El Salvador, where we only spent about five hours in our hotel room before moving on to our next destination.

We didn't need to stay in León, Nicaragua, for three days.

I think León is a beautiful city, and we enjoyed volcano boarding, where we slid down Cerro Negro on special boards. During our time there, we also withstood the scorching summer heat on the roof of León Cathedral.

However, we finished our desired sightseeing faster than we'd anticipated, so three days ended up being too much time in the city.

• I moved from the US to Santa Catalina, Panama, after losing everything in a fire in 2021.
• The small fishing town feels surprisingly diverse, and I've found I enjoy having less convenience.
• Here, I feel a strong connection to my neighbors and nature that I'd never felt before.

My move to Central America wasn't exactly planned.

At the end of 2021, I lost everything I had in an overnight fire at my home in Boulder, Colorado. Without my beloved cat or my condo, my life completely fell apart.

So, I did the only thing that made sense to me at the time: I set off on an open-ended backpacking trip. Three years later, and I'm in Santa Catalina, Panama, building a life I never saw coming with the Italian surfer I met along the way.

Santa Catalina, the gateway to Coiba National Park and home to the famed La Punta surf break, is quiet and small with just a few hundred residents and a single paved road.

Its hibiscus-covered fishermen's homes, dive shops, restaurants, and surf hotels welcome travelers from all over the world. Life here feels worlds away from what I left behind in the US — and that's exactly what I needed.

Here are a few things that have surprised me about my move.

I was surprised by some of the offerings in town since it is so remote.

We are six hours from Panama International Airport in Panama City and about two hours from the nearest major city.

There's no Uber or quick Amazon delivery here, and power outages can sometimes last an entire day. Life here can feel pretty off-grid, but we have basics like a pharmacy, an ATM, a police station, and a medic station.

Much to my surprise, we also have several mini-markets with imported specialties like Spanish jamón, Italian pasta, and Swiss yogurt. There's an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies at the local frutería, too.

I didn't expect the weather or my connection to nature to get so intense.

The heat here can feel relentless, especially with seasonal humidity reaching nearly 90%. During the rainy season, torrential downpours can last for weeks, causing extreme floods or leaving us stuck inside for days.

Lightning storms are also a serious danger — plus, snakes, crocodiles, and scorpions are all home here. It's easy to feel worried living in Santa Catalina, especially considering the nearest hospital is an hour away and there's no fire station nearby.

However, life is full of risks. Living here has made me more present in my daily life and more discerning about what risks I choose to take. Plus, the nature around me is absolutely inspiring.

I grew up by the Pacific Ocean and spent eight years in Colorado, so although I've always respected nature, living in Santa Catalina has deepened my connection to it.

All in all, I'm surprised I'm happier with less convenience.

Living in Santa Catalina has reminded me of something that's easy to forget in a material-driven culture: Happiness often comes from the basics.

Life here feels simpler, and there's a deep appreciation for the simple pleasures: fresh food, family, and time spent in nature.

Without the constant bombardment of ads and access to free shipping and no-contact delivery, I've realized just how much I was consuming back in the US — and how isolating it felt.

These days, I wear the same clothes on repeat and own less than I ever have. When I really need something, I use a P.O. Box in Miami that ships packages to Panama. It's always a little celebration when they finally arrive.

I didn't realize how individualistic my life was in the US until I moved here.

In a town as small and rural as Santa Catalina, community is everything.

A walk to the beach means not just greeting neighbors, but also stopping for a chat and feeling genuinely connected with them — something I rarely experienced in my more urban city in Colorado.

I don't think I'd fully grasped how individualistic US culture was until living here. Now, my relationships here feel open and informal — people check in on each other, lend a hand without hesitation, and prioritize collective well-being. It's refreshing.

Santa Catalina actually feels quite international.

For a tiny fishing village with only a few hundred residents, Santa Catalina feels surprisingly diverse.

Alongside the local fishing families who have lived here for generations, there's a small but tight-knit community of immigrants, digital nomads, and surfers from all over the world. I've met families from Argentina, dive instructors from Germany, and chefs from Italy.

The mix of cultures creates an interesting contrast — one where you'll hear Spanish, Italian, and English in the same conversation and find fresh-caught fish served alongside homemade gnocchi.

A federal judge on Wednesday gave the Justice Department another week to provide information on its efforts to return deported illegal migrant and suspected MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis granted the Justice Department a seven-day stay until April 30 to provide testimony and documents related to a case which has drawn a sharp wedge between Democrats and Republicans. 

Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general, filed a sealed motion requesting the stay, with lawyers for Abrego Garcia filing a response in opposition to the government's motion to halt the order. It was under seal in the Maryland federal court.

Xinis didn't explain her legal reasoning but wrote that it was made "with the agreement of the parties."

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BLUNTLY SHOWS WHERE PARTIES STAND ON IMMIGRATION AMID ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION

The administration was also seeking relief from having to file daily updates, but Xinis' stay did not make any changes to that requirement.

The Wednesday evening order came just one day after Xinis blasted the administration’s lawyers in a written filing for ignoring her orders in refusing to provide the daily status updates on the case, saying that they had been acting in "bad faith" by obstructing the legal process.

"That ends now," said Xinis, who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama.

"For weeks, defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this Court's orders," Xinis wrote in an eight-page order. "Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions."

She gave the administration until 6 p.m. Wednesday to provide daily status updates.

The U.S. has claimed that much of the information is protected because it involves state secrets, government deliberations and attorney client privilege. But Xinis has rejected the argument and demanded that the Trump administration provide specific justifications for each claim of privileged information.

Abrego Garcia, 29, was deported last month by the Trump administration, which says he is an MS-13 gang member who also violently beat his wife. President Donald Trump has declared MS-13 a terrorist organization and is looking to deport all members of the violent gang.

Trump displayed a picture of Abrego Garcia’s hand last week, showing what the president said were gang tattoos. Abrego Garcia was also pulled over on Dec. 1, 2022, by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper and was suspected of participating in human smuggling as he had eight individuals in the SUV with no luggage. Abrego Garcia has never been charged with a crime. 

Abrego Garcia, whose attorneys deny that he is a member of the gang, was deported to the El Salvadoran megaprison "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT) last month, and officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error. However, now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he's a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. 

He had been living in Maryland with his wife and children.

The Justice Department unveiled documents last week detailing domestic violence allegations that Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, made where she accused him of beating her.

DEPORTED ‘MARYLAND MAN’ CHAMPIONED BY DEMS WAS PULLED OVER DRIVING CAR BELONGING TO HUMAN SMUGGLER

Both a federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" his release and return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings.

Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and was issued a deportation order in 2019. Two previous judges found he was likely affiliated with MS-13.

One immigration judge in 2019 found that Garcia had not sufficiently refuted evidence of MS-13 affiliation and was thus removable to anywhere other than El Salvador because of a threat from a rival gang. This is called a withholding order.

The Supreme Court acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a 2019 withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador and that the removal to El Salvador was "therefore illegal." The court stressed that the government must facilitate his release from custody in El Salvador and treat his case as if he were never deported.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said last week that when Trump declared the violent gang a terrorist organization, Abrego Garcia was no longer eligible for any form of immigration relief in the United States.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Abrego Garcia would not be allowed back into the U.S. unless El Salvador were to decide otherwise. "He is not coming back to our country." 

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The case has made national headlines and drawn a wedge between Democrats and Republicans.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen's, D-Md., flew to El Salvador last week to meet with Abrego Garcia in an attempt to spur his return to the U.S. Van Hollen’s trip, which he said was paid for by the taxpayers, was followed by another group of Democratic lawmakers traveling to the Central American nation to advocate for his return. That party included Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, and Maxine Dexter of Oregon.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered the state to review any investments and business with El Salvador, a move that could lead to a boycott over the Central American nation's assistance with the Trump administration in the deportation of criminal illegal migrants. 

In a statement, the Democratic governor said the move was in response to the administration's defiance of court orders and the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 gang member with connections to human trafficking, who is being detained in El Salvador. 

"The United States Constitution guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power," Pritzker said in a statement. "The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power (to) stop the Trump Administration from ripping apart our most basic rights."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

4 MORE DEMS TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ABREGO GARCIA'S RETURN TO US

Pritzker said he was requesting the Illinois State Board of Investment, the State Universities Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System to "identify any fund investments" that are wholly or partially managed, owned or controlled by the Salvadoran government or have ties to businesses in El Salvador.

He also directed the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) to identify any state contracts awarded to companies with ties to the Latin American country. 

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Office of Trade and Investment has also been ordered to analyze trade between Illinois and El Salvador, including the scale and nature of imports and the extent to which goods produced in El Salvador are in the supply chain of products manufactured in Illinois.

DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN AND SUSPECTED MS-13 GANG MEMBER TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON

Pritzker's order came as at least five Democrats have traveled to El Salvador with the intention of meeting with Abrego Garcia. Four of them were denied a meeting by the Salvadoran government. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., met with him amid the legal battle over his return. 

The Trump administration previously admitted to mistakenly deporting Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant with alleged ties to MS-13 who was living in Maryland, but has since said it would not help bring him home.

The Supreme Court has ordered the administration to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. However, it said El Salvador is responsible for his return. 

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has said he will not return him. Democrats contend Abrego Garcia was deprived of due process, which the Trump administration denies. 

The Justice Department unveiled documents last week detailing domestic violence allegations that Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. She alleged that her husband beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her.

Additionally, a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report obtained by Fox News claims that Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor and human trafficking. The report said a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper pulled Abrego Garcia over in 2022 after swerving. The patrol officer found eight other individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who had just begun driving three days prior. 

Department of Homeland Security sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the SUV Abrego Garcia was driving belonged to a confessed human smuggler.

Fox News Digital's Danielle Wallace, Peter Pinedo and Cameron Arcand contributed to this report. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s, D-Md., sudden trip to El Salvador to try to free deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia is getting the attention of critics who believe the Maryland Democrat may have violated a 1799 law prohibiting unauthorized diplomacy.

The Logan Act – named for former Pennsylvania Sen. George Logan – stipulates a fine and/or imprisonment for Americans corresponding with foreign officials "with intent to influence the[ir] measures … in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States."

Logan met with French diplomat Charles de Talleyrand after Paris rebuffed President John Adams, and he attempted to entreat him – in part via a letter from Vice President Thomas Jefferson – to end the Franco-American hostilities of the so-called "Quasi War."

In that way, several prominent conservatives questioned whether Van Hollen’s actions similarly violated the law.

MORE DEMS WORK TO JOIN VAN HOLLEN IN EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ALLEGED GANG MEMBER'S RETURN TO US

"Why hasn’t this U.S. senator been arrested for violation of the Logan Act? It’s illegal to conduct your own foreign policy," longtime Republican consultant Roger Stone tweeted.

WMAL host Vince Coglianese read the Logan Act statute aloud and asked his audience whether Van Hollen had done what the code outlined. 

"Is Chris Van Hollen violating the Logan Act?" Coglianese said. "Because this is what they accused General [Michael] Flynn of doing … the incoming national security advisor … who was merely having conversations with foreign diplomats [after] people had chosen President Donald Trump."

Democrats previously seized on the Logan Act when Flynn contacted Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak prior to Trump being sworn in the first time, which ultimately led to an FBI probe and tanked his public-service career.

Notes from former FBI agent Peter Strzok read, "VP: Logan Act" and suggested then-Vice President Joe Biden floated using it against Flynn, while then-FBI director Jim Comey said the Kislyak correspondence appeared "legit."

NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL

Fox News contributor Byron York responded to an X question on the matter by saying that he repeatedly argued during the Flynn matter that the act is a "dead letter."

"But politically, it's useful to know that Sen. Van Hollen traveled to a foreign country to bash the President of the United States."

The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) sent a letter to Senate Ethics Committee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla, asking to probe for violations, according to the New York Post.

AAF’s Thomas Jones said Garcia "is essentially an enemy combatant in the ongoing invasion … by transnational gangs."

Fox News Digital reached out to Lankford for comment.

The act was last invoked by Trump critics after a book by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward claimed the mogul held several calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin between his terms in the White House.

Trump was lambasted by the "Never-Trump" Lincoln Project and Kamala Harris over Woodward’s book’s claims.

Agents also considered getting Flynn to admit to breaking the Logan Act:

"What is our goal?" one of the notes from ex-FBI counterintelligence chief Bill Priestap read: "Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?"

After that situation, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., unsuccessfully sought a Logan Act repeal.

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In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan suggested it be used against Rev. Jesse Jackson for his travels and communications to Cuba and Nicaragua. 

Trump previously accused both ex-Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., of violating the Logan Act via their contact with Iran in 2019 and 2020.

"It’s literally my job to meet with foreign leaders," Murphy shot back, citing his position on a Senate Mideast subcommittee.

Ultimately, no one has been successfully prosecuted under the Logan Act, as the namesake Philadelphian himself was essentially grandfathered out.

Fox News Digital reached out to Van Hollen for comment.

President Donald Trump is calling Sen. Chris Van Hollen a "fool" on Friday after the legislator flew to El Salvador to meet with deported illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 

"Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media, or anyone. GRANDSTANDER!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. 

Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant living in Maryland, was deported to the El Salvadoran megaprison "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT) last month, and officials acknowledged in court that his deportation had been an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he had been correctly removed and contend that he is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. 

"I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar," Van Hollen, a Democrat, said in a post on X on Thursday. "Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return." 

DEMOCRAT SENATOR VAN HOLLEN MEETS, SHAKES HANDS WITH ABREGO GARCIA 

Van Hollen said earlier Thursday that "Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been illegally abducted and is being held in a notorious prison in El Salvador -- barred from contacting his family or lawyers." Van Hollen also spoke to the press in El Salvador, in a video posted on YouTube. 

Abrego Garcia's wife Jennifer Vasquez said in a statement that "we still have so many questions, hopes, and fears," according to the Associated Press. 

Both a federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" Garcia’s release and return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings. 

MORE DEMOCRATS WORK TO JOIN VAN HOLLEN IN EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ALLEGED GANG MEMBER’S RETURN TO US 

The Trump administration also released information on Wednesday indicating that Abrego Garcia's wife has accused him of repeated abuse of her.  

Fox News obtained the written domestic violence allegations filed in court against Abrego Garcia by Vasquez in 2021. 

In the filing, written in her own handwriting, Vasquez alleged that Abrego Garcia had repeatedly beaten her, writing: "At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me." 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner, Jasmine Baehr and Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele told President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Monday that he has 350 million Americans to "liberate" by ending crime and terrorism in the United States. 

"We know that you have a crime problem and a terrorism problem that you need help with. And we're a small country, but we can help," Bukele said. "We actually turned the murder capital of the world -- that was [what] the journalists called it – the murder capital of the world to the safest country in the Western Hemisphere." 

"And I like to say that we actually liberated millions," Bukele said, with the line drawing praise from Trump. 

STATE DEPT UPGRADES TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR EL SALVADOR, CONSIDERED SAFER THAN FRANCE, OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

"Mr. President, you have 350 million people to liberate," Bukele told Trump. "You cannot just, you know, free the criminals and think crime is going to go down magically, you have to imprison them so you can liberate 350 million Americans that are asking for the end of crime and the end of terrorism, and it can be done." 

The Trump administration has been coordinating with Bukele on deportation flights, sending hundreds, including alleged Tren de Aragua gang members, to El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT. 

Trump's 2024 campaign was critical of the Biden administration's catch-and-release border policies, as well as liberal bail reform laws in many Democratic jurisdictions that forced police to release suspects back onto the streets, often to reoffend.  

Trump on Monday derided the "Democratic establishment," championing how the country would now be run by "common sense" after his election. 

4 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE YOUNG CONSERVATIVE ANTI-CRIME PRESIDENT OF ECUADOR WHO WAS JUST RE-ELECTED

"Do you allow your men in women's sports? Do you allow men to box women?" Trump asked Bukele, referencing how the left has pushed for biological men to compete in women's sports. 

The president of El Salvador remarked, "That's violence." 

"That's abuse of a woman," Trump agreed. "But we have people that fight to the death because they think men should be able to play in women's sports." 

A decade or so ago, Bukele said, the women's rights movement pushed to have laws on the books to prevent men from abusing women, arguing that now the "same people are trying to backtrack." 

"We're big on protecting women," Bukele said, noting that most of his Cabinet members present in the Oval Office with him are women, and joking, "they're not DEI hires or anything." 

Trump championed women in his own Cabinet, naming Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. 

"The most powerful woman in the world, according to magazines," Trump said of Wiles. "I think she probably is." 

Noem, who visited the CECOT last month, thanked Bukele for his partnership, saying Trump has sent a "powerful message of consequences" to keep criminals, rapists, murderers, gang members and terrorists out of the U.S. 

Trump said the Biden administration allowed people to "come freely into our country" from South America, Africa, Asia and "rough parts of Europe," claiming many of those entering came from prisons and mental institutions, as well as gangs. 

"This was allowed by a man who -- what he did to our country is just unbelievable," Trump said of former President Joe Biden. "So we're straightening it out. We're getting them out. But what they did and what that party did to our country, open borders, anybody could come in. As soon as I heard that, I said, ‘every prison is going to be emptied out into our country.’ That's what happened. And we're straightening it out." 

Asked how many illegal immigrants his administration would export to El Salvador, Trump said, "as many as we can get out of our country that were allowed in here by incompetent Joe Biden through open borders." 

Trump did not rule out exporting U.S. citizens or fully naturalized immigrants who commit violent crimes in the U.S. to El Salvador, but he did say Bondi and the Justice Department were still "studying the law" on that potential course of action.

"They're as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones, too. And I'm all for it because we can do things with the president for less money and have great security," Trump said. "I'm talking about really bad people."

Officials in Costa Rica have confirmed the official cause of death of Miller Gardner, the 14-year-old son of former New York Yankees player Brett Gardner who died under mysterious circumstances on March 21 while on a family vacation. 

The initial investigation in the days that followed Miller’s tragic passing focused on asphyxiation, which was later ruled out. The investigation then pivoted to food poisoning as a possible cause of death, but on Wednesday night, Costa Rican Judicial Investigative Agency (OIJ) Director Randall Zúñiga said the toxicology results confirmed that he died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

"It’s important to note that adjacent to this room is a dedicated machine room, where it’s believed there may be some type of contamination toward these rooms," Zúñiga said.

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Zúñiga said Miller was tested for carboxyhemoglobin, a compound generated when carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in the blood. The test showed a saturation level of 64%. It is considered lethal when carboxyhemoglobin saturation exceeds 50%. 

The Gardner family stayed at the Arenas Del Mar hotel in Manuel Antonio.

Earlier this week, the OIJ suggested that carbon monoxide poisoning was likely the cause of death, but officials at the hotel denied those claims. A hotel spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the levels in the hotel room "were non-existent and non-lethal." 

DEATH PROBE OF EX-YANKEE'S SON TRIGGERS CARBON MONOXIDE WARNINGS FROM EXPERTS

Fox News Digital reached out to the spokesperson again following Wednesday’s announcement. 

The Gardner family said in a statement following Miller’s passing that several family members fell ill during the trip. 

"We have so many questions and so few answers at this point, but we do know that he passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of Friday, March 21st," the statement read. "Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile. He loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends. He lived life to the fullest every single day."

Gardner was an outfielder for the Yankees for 14 seasons and was on the team when they won their last World Series title in 2009. He spent his entire career in the Bronx, last playing in 2021.

Fox News' Ashley J. DiMella, Ryan Morik, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Vice President JD Vance responded to comments asking him about the Trump administration admitting to sending a Salvadoran man with protected legal status to the megaprison in El Salvador by mistake.

"It’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize," Vance wrote on X in response to a question about the error from "Pod Save America" host Jon Favreau.

The administration's attorneys acknowledged in a court filing on Monday that it sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador by mistake, which was first reported by The Atlantic. However, the administration also claimed that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction to order his return from the prison where he is behind bars.

Abrego Garcia was removed from Maryland when the administration sent three planeloads of Salvadoran and Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s "Terrorism Confinement Center" on March 15 for alleged gang affiliations.

FEDERAL JUDGE POSTPONES DHS'S ATTEMPT TO END TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR VENEZUELANS

Attorneys for several removed Venezuelan migrants have emphasized that the administration has falsely labeled several of the removed migrants as gang members based on their tattoos, though administration officials have repeatedly stated those sent to the prison are the "worst of the worst."

Certain tattoos flagged as gang-affiliated, which could lead to a migrant's removal, include art of things like a crown or NBA legend Michael Jordan's famous "Jumpman" logo rather than only symbols of a notable gang in El Salvador or Venezuela.

The administration maintains that those tattoos have gang affiliations.

DHS' KRISTI NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMIN WILL RESUME CONSTRUCTION OF 7 MILES OF SOUTHERN BORDER 

While responding to Favreau, who served as an aide to former President Barack Obama, Vance said "you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here" – referencing the court filing.

"My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize," the vice president added.

The court filing states that Abrego Garcia was denied bond in 2019 over an informant’s allegation that he was a member of MS-13, but he has not been convicted.

Court filings also show Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. in 2011 at the age of 16 after fleeing gang threats in El Salvador, The Atlantic reported. 

Eight years later, a judge granted him a form of protected status known as "withholding of removal" after finding that he would likely be a target of Salvadoran gangs if deported to his native country.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

The New York Yankees on Thursday paid tribute to the late teenage son of former outfielder Brett Gardner before their 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Miller Gardner, 14, died while in Costa Rica last week. 

The team observed a moment of silence before the first pitch and displayed a photo of Miller on the team’s video board.

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"Our hearts are heavy, and the Yankees family is filled with grief after learning of the passing of Miller Gardner," the team said in a statement Sunday. "Words feel insignificant and insufficient in trying to describe such an unimaginable loss. It wasn’t just Brett who literally grew up in this organization for more than 17 years — so did his wife, Jessica, and their two boys, Hunter and Miller.

"We grieve with Brett, Jessica, Hunter and their community of family and friends in mourning the loss of Miller, who had a spark in his eyes, an outgoing and feisty personality, and a warm and loving nature. Our love for the Gardner family is unconditional and absolute, and we will offer our enduring support while understanding their desire for privacy at this time.

"May Miller rest in peace."

YANKEES' CARLOS RODON'S BEARD DRAWS MIXED REVIEWS FROM FANS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER FACIAL HAIR POLICY CHANGE

Marisel Rodriguez Solis, the head of press for Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ), told Fox News the investigation has shifted to possible food poisoning as the most likely cause, but asphyxiation has not been ruled out. 

The results from the forensic and pathology tests could take between one to four months.

The Gardner family stayed at the Arenas Del Mar hotel in Manuel Antonio and ate at an Italian restaurant at a nearby hotel March 20. All four family members began to feel sick by 11 p.m. where they were staying.

The Arenas Del Mar hotel called a doctor to give them medicine to help with the stomach issues. The next morning, Miller Gardner was found dead with traces of vomit.

Costa Rican authorities were still investigating the cause of death.

Fox News’ Bryan Llenas contributed to this report.

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A delegation of experts from the conservative Heritage Foundation visited with leaders in Paraguay, Argentina and Panama last week, with President Kevin Roberts warning the "political and economic security costs of the U.S. neglecting this hemisphere are very high."

Roberts, joined by Vice President Victoria Coates and others, said of his visit with Paraguayan President Santiago Pena that it has proven to be one of the most "stable, reliable countries" in terms of its economy and government – and that it, like the U.S., wants to rebuff Chinese influence in the West.

"It is also apparent that President Trump and Vice President Vance, by reengaging in this (southern) hemisphere, by placing what is clear to be a high priority on Latin America, have caused some conversations that need to happen, and we're grateful to be here to have those conversations with policymakers, but also convey from our perspective as Americans, the wisdom of what the Trump administration is doing," Roberts said.

"And we say that with our independence from the administration and from any political party -- instead being led by our real desire: to tell the truth about what's going on."

MILEI RAILS AGAINST WOKEISM

Roberts described a "reset" in diplomacy from the past four years with the three countries and others in the region, remarking the opportunities for benefit are "almost limitless."

Coates, who served as a national security advisor on Middle East affairs in the first Trump administration, said the three countries visited were chosen by their improvement or standing on the economic freedom index.

"We’ve great strides in all three of these economies towards [getting] away from the historic socialism and corruption that has been plaguing the region," she said, as Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries are ruled by much more of an iron fist.

Mike Gonzalez, a national security expert who served in the George W. Bush administration and spent several years as a globetrotting journalist, said the meetings with South American leaders made one thing clear: America’s leadership shift over the past four years has left a noticeable vacuum.

ARGENTINA'S MILEI BLASTS UN OVER SUPPORT FOR COVID LOCKDOWNS, APPEASING 'BLOODY DICTATORSHIPS'

"This is what our friends in the region have told us. They said we seemed to back the leaders and the political forces that really hate the United States, like people that Gustavo Petro, Lula da Silva; Sergio Massa – whom the previous administration sent Democratic operatives to help elect against [current President Javier] Milei."

Gonzalez said democratic political forces in the region are "very happy" that the U.S. is no longer appearing to support people who do not have the right interests at heart.

Andres Martinez-Fernandez, a Central and South America expert, added that when it comes to the newfound attention to the Panama Canal, it remains a "vital artery for the U.S. economy" and deserves such attention.

"There’s a lot of interest from both the United States and the region as far as bolstering our economic interconnectedness. And that, I think, is a clear counterweight to our dependence on China and being able to extract that influence," he said.

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"But the part of that is also talking about China within our hemisphere, which unfortunately, they've bolstered their presence very dramatically."

"We saw that in Argentina, where President Milei who came to power being very vocal on the China issue and I think remains concerned about it… so I'm glad to see that President Trump is reengaging and addressing the metastasized threat that is China's presence in the Western Hemisphere that comes with difficult conversations."

When asked about the delegation, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital that "foreign leaders want positive relationships with the Trump administration because this president is Making America Strong Again."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday will tour El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, where hundreds of alleged criminal illegal aliens are being held after the Trump administration deported them earlier this month.

Noem will tour the prison with the Salvadoran Minister of Justice, Héctor Gustavo Villatoro, before meeting with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, according to a Homeland Security statement. Noem’s visit is part of a three-day trip that will also see her travel to Colombia and Mexico.

Bukele opened the prison in 2023 as El Salvador wages a crackdown on powerful street gangs causing mayhem in the country. The facility has eight sprawling pavilions and can hold up to 40,000 inmates. As many as 65 to 70 prisoners are packed into each cell.

Prisoners are never allowed outside and can't have visitors. There are no workshops or educational programs.

HIGH-RANKING TREN DE ARAGUA GANGSTER MURDERED TWO AMERICAN WOMEN, CAPTURED ACROSS COUNTRY: FEDS

A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News this month that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on March 15. The majority of them were deported via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows for the expulsion of an enemy nation's natives and citizens without a hearing.

More than 100 of the migrants were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, while 21 others were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, the official added. Two were MS-13 ringleaders and "special cases" for El Salvador.

Video released by El Salvador’s government after the deportees' arrival showed men, shackled at their hands and ankles, exiting airplanes onto an airport tarmac lined by heavily armed officers in riot gear.

EXCLUSIVE: GOP MOVES TO AUTHORIZE TRUMP TO WAGE WAR ON CARTELS THROUGH MILITARY FORCE

The men were later shown at the prison kneeling on the ground as their heads were shaved before they changed into the prison’s all-white uniform — knee-length shorts, T-shirt, socks and rubber clogs — and placed in cells.

El Salvador has been operating under a state of emergency that suspends fundamental rights for nearly three years as Bukele deals with the street gangs. Some 84,000 people have been arrested so far, accused of gang ties and jailed, often without due process.

Bukele offered to hold U.S. deportees in the prison when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited in February.

In a March 16 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote that the U.S. "will not forget" Bukele's partnership, and thanked the leader for his "understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership."

Fox News Digital’s Adrea Margolis and Emma Colton, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is planning to visit several spots in Central America next week – including El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, where hundreds of migrant criminals were famously deported last week.

On Sunday, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that Noem's trip "underscores the importance of our partner countries to help remove violent criminal illegal aliens from the United States."

"President Trump and Secretary Noem have a clear message for criminal aliens considering entering America illegally: don’t even think about it," McLaughlin said. "If you come to our country and break our laws, we will hunt you down, and lock you up."

Noem's visit will kick off with a stop at the Terrorist Confinement Center on Mar. 26, which she will tour with the Salvadoran Minister of Justice, Héctor Gustavo Villatoro. The Trump administration official will meet with President Nayib Bukele later that day.

EL SALVADOR PRESIDENT RIPS FBI TRUMP RAID, QUESTIONS WHAT US GOV'T WOULD SAY IF HIS POLICE TARGETED CANDIDATES

On Mar. 27, Noem plans to visit Colombia to meet with President Gustavo Petro and the Colombian National Police (CNP)'s specialized group aimed at countering organized crime. The former South Dakota governor will wrap up her trip in Mexico on Mar. 28, where she'll convene with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

The visit will come over a week after El Salvador released gritty footage of hundreds of illegal aliens being deported and rounded up into jail cells last weekend. The video showed the alleged gang members with their heads in their hands, as heavily-armed Salvadoran authorities surrounded them and transported them into facilities one by one.

A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on Mar. 15. The majority of them were deported via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows for the expulsion of an enemy nation's natives and citizens without a hearing.

101 of the migrants were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, while 21 others were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, the official added. Two were MS-13 ringleaders and "special cases" for El Salvador.

RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP'S 'GOLDEN AGE' AGENDA

The rap sheets for those removed included aggravated assault, robbery, kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, prostitution, and aggravated assault of a police officer.

Bukele, a Trump ally, wrote that the deportation flights will help Salvadoran authorities "help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors."

"As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime," he added. "But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action. May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States."

In a Mar. 16 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote that the U.S. "will not forget" Bukele's partnership, and thanked the leader for his "understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership."

"These are the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats," Trump wrote. "How dare they!"

The Justice Department insisted Tuesday that deportation flights that sent Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador over the weekend did not violate a court order. 

The federal response came after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted an emergency order Saturday to temporarily block the flights from taking place for 14 days while his court considered the legality of using the 1798 wartime-era Alien Enemies Act to immediately deport Venezuelan nationals and alleged members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua. He ordered the Trump administration on Monday to submit more information about Saturday’s flights, including what time each plane took off from the U.S. 

"The Court... ordered the Government to address the form in which it can provide further details about flights that left the United States before 7:25 PM," reads a filing Tuesday that was co-signed by Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and others. "The Government maintains that there is no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate, because even accepting Plaintiffs’ account of the facts, there was no violation of the Court’s written order (since the relevant flights left U.S. airspace, and so their occupants were ‘removed,’ before the order issued), and the Court’s earlier oral statements were not independently enforceable as injunctions."

In granting the emergency order Saturday, Boasberg sided with the plaintiffs – Democracy Forward and the ACLU – who had argued that the deportations would likely pose imminent and "irreparable" harm to the migrants under the time proposed. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS NOON DEADLINE TO DISCLOSE DEPORTATION FLIGHT DETAILS AFTER JUDGE’S ORDER 

Boasberg also ordered the Trump administration on Saturday to immediately halt any planned deportations and to notify their clients that "any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States," he said.

However, the decision apparently came too late to stop two planes filled with more than 200 migrants who were deported to El Salvador.

READ THE DOJ FILING – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News in an interview that a plane carrying hundreds of migrants, including more than 130 persons removed under the Alien Enemies Act, had already "left U.S. airspace" by the time the order was handed down. 

US PAID EL SALVADOR TO TAKE VENEZUELAN TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS, WHITE HOUSE SAYS 

"ICE understood the Proclamation Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua to be effective only once it was posted to the White House website, which was at or around 3:53 PM EDT on March 15, 2025," ICE Acting Field Office Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations Robert Cerna wrote in a declaration Tuesday. 

"On March 15, 2025, after the Proclamation was publicly posted and took effect, three planes carrying aliens departed the United States for El Salvador International Airport (SAL). Two of those planes departed U.S. territory and airspace before 7:25 PM EDT. The third plane departed after that time, but all individuals on that third plane had Title 8 final removal orders and thus were not removed solely on the basis of the Proclamation at issue," he continued. 

"To avoid any doubt, no one on any flight departing the United States after 7:25 PM EDT on March 15, 2025, was removed solely on the basis of the Proclamation at issue. ICE carefully tracks the TdA members who are amenable to removal proceedings. At this time approximately 54 members of TdA are in detention and on the detained docket, approximately 172 are on the non-detained docket, and approximately 32 are in criminal custody with active detainers against them. Should they be transferred to ICE custody, they will likely be placed in removal proceedings," he said.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump thanked El Salvador on Sunday after the country's president shared dramatic video of hundreds of alleged migrant criminals landing in Central America after being deported from the U.S.

Trump, who recently invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing, thanked Nayib Bukele on social media.

"Thank you to El Salvador and, in particular, President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership," Trump wrote. "We will not forget!"

Trump also referred to the apprehended migrants as "the monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats."

EL SALVADOR AGREES TO ACCEPT US DEPORTEES OF ANY NATIONALITY FOLLOWING MEETING WITH RUBIO

A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador yesterday – 137 were via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, 101 were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, 21 were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members and two were MS-13 ringleaders and "special cases" for El Salvador, according to the official.

The rap sheets for those removed included kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, aggravated assault, prostitution, robbery and aggravated assault of a police officer. 

A Trump administration official also confirmed to Fox News that the planes carrying the migrants were already outside of U.S. airspace when a federal judge ordered the planes to return. 

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered an immediate stop to Trump's efforts to deport the alleged gang members so he could have more time to consider if Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act was illegal.

"We did not defy a court order. The order came too late, and illegals were already in international airspace," the official said, as first reported by Axios.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed the official's sentiment, telling Fox News that the order "had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist [Tren de Aragua] aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory." 

"The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict," Leavitt said. "A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil."

In an X post, Bukele said the migrants arrived in El Salvador and were transferred to a "terrorism confinement center," where they will stay for at least a year.

The intense video showed heavily-armed Salvadorean authorities surrounding the alleged gang members, forcing their heads down and transporting them into facilities one by one.

RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP'S 'GOLDEN AGE' AGENDA

The video also depicted the suspects getting their hair shaven and walking with their hands behind their necks as they were rounded up into their prison cells. 

"Over time, these actions, combined with the production already being generated by more than 40,000 inmates engaged in various workshops and labor under the Zero Idleness program, will help make our prison system self-sustainable," Bukele wrote. "As of today, it costs $200 million per year."

He also said that the apprehension of the MS-13 members "will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors."

"As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime," he added. "But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action."

"May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States."

Bukele's post was also warmly received by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who thanked the Salvadorean leader for his "assistance and friendship."

"President @nayibbukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S.," Rubio said in an X post. "Thank you!"

Fox News Digital's Brooke Curto and Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.

The Trump administration has made deals across Latin America to assist in the U.S. effort to deport migrants who have entered the country illegally, with migrants being shipped to and held in several Central American countries.

"Trump's no longer letting the U.S. be treated like a doormat," Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital.

The comments come as multiple reports over the last week have detailed President Donald Trump’s push for deportations, with the Associated Press reporting that the administration has struck deals with Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela that have allowed the U.S. to move migrants away from its southern border.

ANTI-ICE ACTIVISTS SOUND SIRENS, BULLHORNS TO STOP MIGRANT DEPORTATIONS IN DEM-RUN STATE

The move has caused Central America to become a "dumping ground" for migrants, according to a report in the Guardian, which pointed to countries such as Panama and Costa Rica which have taken in migrants from the Middle East and Asia.

The Guardian reported that in many cases, Trump has been "strong-arming" Central American nations to play by his rules, oftentimes using fear such as threats to take back the Panama Canal or impose tariffs.

"It’s clear that there’s a new order of relations in this matter where things are demanded of countries that are not in a position to refuse," said Marcela Martino, deputy director of Central America and Mexico for the Center for Justice and International Law, told the Guardian.

Panama was the first country to agree to a deal with Trump in the middle of February, the report notes, and has since taken on hundreds of migrants from places such as Afghanistan, Iran, China, and Pakistan.

Some of those migrants have agreed to be returned to their home countries, while 128 of the 299 migrants that Panama has received have refused. That refusal has put the migrants in a form of "legal limbo," the Guardian reported, pointing to viral photos that showed one young Iranian migrant who scrawled "help" on the window of a Panama City hotel, where migrants were temporarily being held.

TED CRUZ SLAPS BLUE STATE AUTHORITY WITH SUBPOENA OVER SHELTERING MIGRANTS AT AIRPORT: 'RECKLESS'

While some critics have raised concerns about the legality of the deportation programs or the conditions migrants face, Ries pointed out that many of these same countries served as hosts for migrants flowing the other direction during former President Joe Biden’s term.

"Many of these countries viewed the U.S. as a dumping ground as they let millions of migrants traverse their countries just to go to the U.S," Ries said. "And you know, we're a sovereign nation, and sovereign countries have a right to choose who comes here, how many, under what terms and when they have to leave. Migrants don't choose that."

Ries argued that Trump’s moves to put deportation deals in place are simply an example of the president using American leverage, something not seen under the leadership of Biden.

"The U.S. has leverage with other countries, and our last president didn't use it and again, treated our country like a doormat, just let people in by the millions," Ries argued. "The current president is choosing to use that leverage with respect to these other countries."

Another benefit of the deals, Ries noted, is they may serve as a deterrent for both migrants thinking about heading north and the countries in the last four years who have allowed them passage, arguing that these countries are also capable of defending their own borders.

"They are perfectly able to and should defend their own borders," Ries said. "Prevent the mass migration in the first place, and then prevent many of these consequences."

EXCLUSIVE: Retired New York Giants safety Jack Brewer and his global ministry are on the ground in Guatemala City this week, helping officials receive migrant families deported from the U.S., providing food, support and prayer as they essentially start life anew.

Brewer and his Jack Brewer Foundation have years of experience working in impoverished areas of the world like Haiti, Malawi and Central America, which Brewer said has allowed him to work closer than most and interact with the returning families.

While it is President Donald Trump and border czar Tom Homan enforcing U.S. law and deporting illegal immigrants, Brewer said it is clear former President Joe Biden’s "broken" policies are truly to blame for the heartache and hardship. 

"Three years ago, I started to follow the fatherlessness crisis that is happening right here in Guatemala, where a lot of men were leaving their households and coming to Joe Biden’s open borders – and just seeing it literally devastate families."

CHARITY LEADERS SLAM BIDEN ADMIN RESPONSE TO US PLANES SHOT IN HAITI AMID CHAOS

Brewer said Guatemala was losing much of its workforce and that a lot of those poor families trying to get to the U.S. actually did not know a "legal" immigration route existed, and they instead took the cartels and others at their word and paid thousands of dollars to be trafficked north.

"They’ve been told by coyotes and different people that you can just come [to the U.S.], and if you come here, if you bring your child, they'll just let you in," Brewer said.

"And so, you know, there's a huge education gap there on the ground."

Brewer also met with Raul Berrios from CONAMIGUA – the National Council for Attention to Migrants of Guatemala – as well as Sergio Samuel Vela-Lopez, head of the Guatemala Penitentiary Department.

Berrios, Lopez and others are trying to create an effective system for welcoming the migrants and processing those who are innocent families versus those who may have criminal records or other issues requiring government attention, according to Brewer.

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Many families returning to the capital city live hundreds of miles into the countryside and have no established way of getting there. Some buses, however, have been hired to take migrants closer to home, and Brewer visited one of them and spoke to its driver.

"It’s really a unique perspective, I think, and just some of the things that we've witnessed since we've been here," he said, adding stories ranged from familial hardships to reports that more than a dozen people have been burnt alive by Mexican cartels for failing to pay for passage.

"It’s just pretty tough to see and witness and watch."

When a U.S. military plane arrived carrying migrants, Brewer was on the tarmac.

HEGSETH, HOMAN TOUR BORDER

"We were able to provide them with food and, most importantly, with Bibles, and we preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Brewer said the Guatemalan Migration Authority is focusing its efforts on children ages 8 and under. Many of these children have been "lied to," Brewer said.

"They’re told it’s their life’s mission to migrate to the U.S. illegally," he said, recounting stories told by some returning migrants of children on the backs of cartel coyotes and others drowning in rivers.

Then-Vice President Kamala Harris made her own trip to Guatemala City in March 2024, seeking to understand the "root causes" of illegal migration.

"When you look at the root causes, we're also looking at issues of corruption. Again, we're looking at the issue of climate resiliency and then the concern about a lack of economic opportunity," Harris said in 2021.

Brewer rejected that Harris’ work made any difference, saying she and her then-boss’s policies "empowered human traffickers" and that half of Guatemala still lives in extreme poverty with little education.

He said the former leadership at the State Department "misguided resources" through USAID, a practice that Trump is now aggressively cutting back on.

"We need to first put our resources into addressing the issues that are fueling a multibillion-dollar human trafficking industry. Walls, deportations and enforcement are a must, but educating indigenous populations on the truths of coyotes will deliver a devastating blow to the modern human slave trade," Brewer said.

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"Guatemala is not enforcing their migration issue in the country. Haitians and Venezuelans are warned of the dangers of migrating, but there is no enforcement at the time."

"There needs to be arrest and enforcement, but they require resources. Guatemala prisons are already overcrowded, and they don’t have immigration beds available for enforcement," added Brewer, who said he also visited those prisons and saw conditions for himself.

Newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama for his first international trip as the nation’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned. 

Though details are still being worked out, the visit could come as early as next week. 

The planned trip comes after repeated vows by President Donald Trump – who returned to the White House on Monday – to take back the Panama Canal.

Trump mentioned the Panama Canal again during his inaugural address on Monday, claiming that it was now in the hands of China and vowing to take it back. 

MARCO RUBIO CLASHES WITH NBC ‘TODAY’ HOST WHEN PRESSED ON TRUMP'S JAN. 6 PARDONS

"China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back," Trump said. 

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino responded forcefully to Trump's comments on Wednesday saying, "we reject in its entirety everything that Mr. Trump has said. First, because it is false and second, because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama."  

The U.S. built the canal in the early 1900s under then President Theodore Roosevelt as it looked for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military vessels between its coasts. Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by then President Jimmy Carter. 

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News of Rubio’s trip was first reported by Politico and could include other Central American countries like Guatemala and El Salvador, where Rubio is expected to address a top priority of curbing mass migration that he outlined earlier this week. 

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce tells Fox News that "Secretary Rubio is prioritizing the region because it’s where we live," adding "we won’t continue to ignore the region as other administrations have." 

She added: "Engaging with our neighbors is a vital element in addressing migration, supply chains, and economic growth, which are key to Secretary Rubio’s pursuit of foreign policy focused on making America strong, prosperous, and safe."

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President-elect Trump said on Tuesday that negotiating away the Panama Canal was a "very big mistake" by former President Jimmy Carter – ahead of Carter's state funeral later this week.

Trump said at a press conference that he believes the canal, which he would like the the U.S. to reclaim, is why Carter lost the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, who also opposed the treaty Carter negotiated to hand over the canal.

"It's a bad part of the Carter legacy," Trump said.

"He was a good man. I knew him a little bit, and he was a very fine person. But that was a big mistake."

LIVE UPDATES: JIMMY CARTER REMEMBRANCES, FUNERAL SERVICES

"Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a very big mistake. We lost 38,000 people. It cost us the equivalent of a trillion dollars, maybe more... They say it was the most expensive structure… ever built. And giving that away was a horrible thing. And I believe that's why Jimmy Carter lost the election, even more so than the hostages," he said.

Speaking in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump lamented the fact Carter purportedly "gave" the canal lands back to the Panamanians "for $1." According to reports, no part of the treaty mentioned a $1 sale.

"I thought [giving the canal back] was a terrible thing to do," Trump said.

When reporters pressed Trump on criticizing Carter on the day of his Washington wake, the president-elect said he was a "very fine person" but that his politics left something to be desired.

Trump has also sparred verbally with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino about his plans for the canal.

However, more than a century ago, another Republican – Theodore Roosevelt – celebrated the way the United States spearheaded the canal project in part through some diplomatic maneuvering.

HOW CARTER TRANSFORMED THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

In the early 1900s, as the Colombian Senate balked at a treaty favoring U.S. control, Panama was in the process of declaring its independence from Bogota – and America quickly recognized the new nation and effectively circumvented the Colombians.

In 1903, President Roosevelt boasted of the accomplishment.

"Fortunately, the crisis came at a period when I could act unhampered [by Congress]. Accordingly, I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me," he said. 

Trump’s plans to retake the canal have earned him praise from otherwise regular critics.

Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Sen. John McCain – with whom Trump often sparred – backed the man she otherwise tends to critique.

"Trump is right about the Panama Canal. This is very personal – my dad was born in the Panama Canal Zone."

The elder McCain was born in 1936 at the then-Coco Solo U.S. Navy installation – as a U.S. citizen since the canal zone was controlled by Americans.

The late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina also expressed reservations about canal negotiations in the 1970s.

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In a letter to then-President Ford, Thurmond warned the Panamanians were cozying up to the Communist Cuban government, and that "any action on the part of the United States that indicates the slightest position of weakness or a willingness to accommodate anti-American sentiment in Panama, would result in many other Latin American countries moving in the same leftward direction."

Thurmond led 35 senators in crafting a resolution opposing what he called the surrender of U.S. sovereignty in the PCZ.

"Any loss of control of the Canal would be extremely detrimental to our vital interests, especially in Latin America. We should make it clear that U.S. vital interests there are not negotiable."

Carter's negotiations led to Panama taking full control of the canal by 1999. His other major diplomatic negotation – peace accords between Egypt and Israel – also remain intact today.

President-elect Trump announced the Gulf of Mexico is getting a new name. 

"We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory," Trump said on Tuesday. "The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate."

Trump made the announcement in his first press conference since Congress certified his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday from Mar-a-Lago. He opened the press event by announcing DAMAC Properties will invest $20 billion in new data centers across the country in addition to previewing a bevy of policy issues ahead of his inauguration this month. 

TRUMP ANNOUNCES $20 BILLION IN NEW DATA CENTERS IN POST-CERTIFICATION ADDRESS

The Gulf of Mexico is a partly enclosed sea that borders states such as Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, as well as Mexico.

DONALD TRUMP JR TAKES PERSONAL TRIP TO GREENLAND AFTER PRESIDENT-ELECT FLOATS PURCHASING COUNTRY

Trump did not detail how his administration would go about renaming the body of water, but went on to slam Mexico for the immigration woes in the U.S. under the Biden White House. 

"Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. And we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So we’re going to make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada, substantial tariffs," he said. 

BIDEN MOVING TO BAN OIL AND GAS LEASES FOR 20 YEARS IN NEVADA REGION, JUST WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP INAUGURATION

 Trump's pledge is his latest remark regarding land territories, including potentially expanding the U.S. 

MISS. LAWMAKER: 'GULF OF AMERICA' BILL WAS A JOKE

Trump has referred to Canada as the nation's "51st state," while his son and other Trump allies traveled to Greenland this week following Trump repeatedly calling for the U.S. to acquire the autonomous territory under the Kingdom of Denmark. 

"As someone who has traveled to some fascinating places across the globe as an outdoorsman, I’m excited to stop into Greenland for a little bit of fun this week," Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital of his trip to Greenland. 

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Trump Jr. is "popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting." Trump Jr. is not meeting with government officials while in Greenland, Fox Digital previously reported. 

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Signman contributed to this report.