Venezuelan immigrants deported to El Salvador despite US court ban

President Nayib Bukele alleged members of a Venezuelan gang and his country’s president, Donald Trump, who had incontroversiously invoked US law to expulse them, has alleged that the country has flown in more than 200 immigrants to El Salvador.

Despite a US federal judge’s request to temporarily suspend the expulsion order, it appeared that planes were already flying to El Salvador, the deportations occurred on Sunday.

Venezuela’s government rebuked Trump for “criminalizing” Venezuelan migrants on Sunday, saying they were “in their vast majority… dignified and honest” workers, not terrorists. Additionally, it stated that the action was in violation of both international and US laws.

In response to a story about the judge’s decision, Bukele posted an “Oopsie… Too Late” emoji on social media along with a crying-with-laughter emoji.

The Trump administration announced that it would appeal the court order.

Trump “using his core powers as president and commander-in-chief to defend the American people from an urgent threat,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in defense of the deportations.

The first 238 members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization in Venezuela, arrived in our country today, according to Bukele, who made the announcement on Sunday on X.

Tren de Aragua, the first 238 members of Venezuelan criminal organization, arrived in our nation today. They were immediately re-directed to the Terrorism Confinement Center, CECOT, for a yearlong (renewable) transfer.

The cost is very low for them, according to the US, … twitter.com/tfsi8cgpD6

The presidency shared a number of photos showing prisoners’ heads being shaved, then their hands manacled behind their backs, and he shared a video of several men being transferred from a plane to a heavily guarded convoy.

Bukele and American officials neither gave a specific figure for the men’s custody in El Salvador, but neither he nor the US offered to pay a “very low fee.”

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was invoked by Trump on Friday, but it was not made available to the public until Saturday.

Only three times before, including during significant international conflicts, including World Wars I and II, has the contentious authority been invoked by a US president during a conflict in which one country.

In a meeting last month with Marco Rubio, the US’s secretary of state, Bukele offered to house US citizens in his nation, including members of the MS-13 gang in Salvador and Tren de Aragua.

Windowless cell mega-jail

Human rights organizations have voiced criticism of Iron-fisted Bukele, who has become extremely well-known in his Latin American nation for successfully cracking down on violent gangs.

Salvadorans are divided over his proposal to accept foreign convicts for a fee, which they fear could stifle the country’s fight against violent crime.

Trump “is acting within the bounds of the law,” Leavitt claimed on the Fox News Sunday Morning Futures program.

The alleged gang members were transported to the nation’s maximum security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a mega-prison with a capacity for 40, 000 prisoners, 75 kilometers (47 miles) southeast of San Salvador, according to Bukele.

Inmates are prohibited from having visitors, sleep on metal beds, and are placed inside windowless cells.

The US deported “top leaders” of MS-13, along with 21 of its most wanted faces facing justice in their homeland, according to Rubio in a statement released on Sunday.

Legislation from the war era

According to Trump’s order, Tren de Aragua “conducts irregular warfare against the United States both directly and indirectly under the Maduro regime’s control, clandestine or otherwise.”

Attorney General of Trump Pam Bondi has 60 days to implement the decree, which would require all Tren de Aragua gang members to be “subject to immediate apprehension, detention, and removal” according to the statement.

All Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members who are over 14 years old and who are not citizens of the United States or who are legal permanent residents will be subject to the order.

The US District Court in Washington was requested by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and an ally group called Democracy Forward to stop deportations, arguing that the 1798 act was not intended to be used during the Cold War.

Under the new order, Judge James Boasberg on Saturday put a 14-day stop to any deportations.

Bondi criticized the decision, blaming it for “putting the public and law enforcement in danger” in a statement.

Around 15, 000 members of the MS-13 and rival Salvadoran Barrio 18 gangs are already housed in the El Salvador prison where the alleged gang members were detained.

Source: Aljazeera