{"id":294281,"date":"2025-04-30T15:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T15:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/30\/behind-trumps-deal-to-deport-venezuelans-to-el-salvadors-most-feared-prison\/"},"modified":"2025-04-30T15:57:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T15:57:09","slug":"behind-trumps-deal-to-deport-venezuelans-to-el-salvadors-most-feared-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/30\/behind-trumps-deal-to-deport-venezuelans-to-el-salvadors-most-feared-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind Trump\u2019s Deal to Deport Venezuelans to El Salvador\u2019s Most Feared Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/30\/us\/politics\/30dc-deportation-reconstruct-promo\/30dc-deportation-reconstruct-promo-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Behind Trump\u2019s Deal to Deport Venezuelans to El Salvador\u2019s Most Feared Prison\" title=\"Behind Trump\u2019s Deal to Deport Venezuelans to El Salvador\u2019s Most Feared Prison\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As they addressed reporters inside the Oval Office in mid-April, President Trump and his Salvadoran counterpart appeared to be operating in lock step.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States had just deported more than 200 migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, and President Nayib Bukele said his country was eager to take more. He scoffed at a question from a reporter about whether he would release one of the men who a federal judge said had been mistakenly deported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI mean, we\u2019re not very fond of releasing terrorists into our country,\u201d Mr. Bukele said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But weeks earlier, when the three planes of deportees landed, it was the Salvadoran president who had quietly expressed concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As part of the agreement with the Trump administration, Mr. Bukele had agreed to house only what he called \u201cconvicted criminals\u201d in the prison. However, many of the Venezuelan men labeled gang members and terrorists by the U.S. government had not been tried in court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bukele wanted assurances from the United States that each of those locked up in the prison were members of Tren de Aragua, the transnational gang with roots in Venezuela, according to people familiar with the situation and documents obtained by The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The matter was urgent, a senior U.S. official warned his colleagues shortly after the deportations, kicking off a scramble to get the Salvadorans whatever evidence they could.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bukele\u2019s demands for more information about some of the deportees, which has not been previously reported, deepen questions about whether the Trump administration sufficiently assessed who it dispatched to a foreign prison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The New York Times pieced together the most complete account yet of the U.S. arrangement with El Salvador and the March 15 deportations from internal government documents, court filings and interviews with 22 people familiar with the operation or legal challenges, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For months, aides to Mr. Trump had worked to engineer a new system to deport immigrants rapidly to Central and South America, with little to no oversight from the courts. The strategy hinged on using an 18th-century wartime law and treating the migrants like citizens of a country at war with the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the application of the rarely used Alien Enemies Act appeared to be haphazard, pulling in migrants whose relatives insisted they were not gang members. Government officials hurried to assemble documents detailing who was sent to the prison and justify the deportations in court. The process was so messy that eight women were among those flown to be incarcerated in the Salvadoran prison, an all-male facility, and had to be swiftly returned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Friends and families of the men locked up in El Salvador are now struggling to extract information about their fate. The White House is in a standoff with the federal courts over how it has applied the Alien Enemies Act, with the Supreme Court expected to weigh in soon, a potentially significant test of Mr. Trump\u2019s attempts to expand his executive power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe president has the right to remove foreign terrorists from our homeland, and we are absolutely confident that truth will ultimately prevail in court,\u201d the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a statement. \u201cIn the meantime, the administration continues to comply with all court orders.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">El Salvador\u2019s prison, called the Terrorism Confinement Center, gave Mr. Trump a fearsome symbol to underscore his determination to execute mass deportations, as well as a facility outside of the reach of American lawyers and the accountability of the U.S. legal system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Mr. Bukele, the White House had a willing ally, albeit one with specific demands, including a list of high-ranking MS-13 gang leaders he wanted sent back to El Salvador as part of the deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That stoked alarm among some U.S. law enforcement officials. The Justice Department has spent years building cases against MS-13 leaders for criminal activities in the United States, alleging that the gang has been protected by the Salvadoran government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A spokeswoman for Mr. Bukele, who has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2021\/12\/08\/salvador-bukele-gangs-sanctions\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">denied those claims<\/a>, did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said he worked directly with the government of El Salvador \u201cto deport as many dangerous gang members illegally in America as possible,\u201d is now looking for other foreign partners, as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI intend to continue to try and identify other countries willing to accept and jail as many gang members as we can send them,\u201d Mr. Rubio said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Stephen Miller, the main architect of Mr. Trump\u2019s domestic agenda, had a message for other advisers inside the presidential transition offices in West Palm Beach, Fla.: Be bold. Do not worry about potential litigation, especially when drafting Mr. Trump\u2019s immigration actions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was roughly a month before the inauguration, and Mr. Miller knew he needed to move fast to make good on Mr. Trump\u2019s campaign pledge of mass deportations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Miller had long been interested in the Alien Enemies Act, a law passed in 1798 that allows the U.S. government to swiftly deport citizens of an invading nation. The authority has been invoked just three times in the past, all during times of war. He saw it as a powerful weapon to apply to immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The law \u201callows you to instantaneously remove any noncitizen foreigner from an invading country, aged 14 or older,\u201d Mr. Miller told the right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/thecharliekirkshow.com\/podcasts\/the-charlie-kirk-show\/left-wing-judges-the-gangsters-in-black-with-ken-p\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in a September 2023 interview<\/a>, adding: \u201cThat allows you to suspend the due process that normally applies to a removal proceeding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Venezuelans had arrived in the United States in record numbers over the previous several years, following the collapse of their economy under the government of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Venezuelan migrants crossed the border more than 760,000 times during the Biden administration, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. Many had pending asylum cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The surge had included Neri Jos\u00e9 Alvarado, a onetime college student from Yaracuy, Venezuela, who traveled through the Dari\u00e9n jungle and crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in April 2024, hoping to find work and pay for the medical care of his younger brother, who has autism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He got a job working at a bakery in the Dallas area while waiting for his bid for asylum to be considered. In the application he filed to U.S. officials, Mr. Alvarado said he dreamed of becoming a \u201cgreat psychologist.\u201d He also said that he feared returning to Venezuela because he had participated in protests against the Maduro government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In his home country, he wrote in his application, \u201cI am afraid of being in a country where constitutional guarantees are not respected.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Mr. Trump\u2019s telling, the incoming Venezuelans were primarily gang members and psychopaths. At rally after rally, he claimed without evidence that members of Tren de Aragua had crossed the border en masse and taken over American communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His team knew they wanted to use the wartime authority to accelerate deportations. But they also needed a place to send the Venezuelan immigrants, whose government was not regularly accepting deportation flights from the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Early on, Trump advisers identified El Salvador as a promising option. Mr. Bukele, who has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2021\/12\/08\/salvador-bukele-gangs-sanctions\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">called himself<\/a> the world\u2019s \u201ccoolest dictator,\u201d had come into office pledging to crack down on gang crime. Matt Gaetz, who late last year resigned from Congress and was Mr. Trump\u2019s initial pick to lead the Justice Department, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7280106\/trump-interview-100-days-2025\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">visited Mr. Bukele last July<\/a> and toured his new <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/18\/world\/americas\/bukele-abrego-garcia-elsalvador-prison.html\" title=\"\">Terrorism Confinement Center<\/a>, known as CECOT, a sprawling facility with eight cell blocks that each holds 3,000 prisoners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bukele was willing to let the United States use his prisons \u2014 with conditions, he told Mr. Rubio and Mauricio Claver-Carone, Mr. Trump\u2019s Latin American envoy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He did not want to bring in noncriminal migrants; he could not convince Salvadorans he was prioritizing their national interests if he turned their country into a dumping ground for U.S. deportees from other countries, he explained to Mr. Trump\u2019s aides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he did agree to take in violent criminals, no matter their nationality, for a fee, which would help subsidize the country\u2019s prison system. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Bukele had his own request: a list of MS-13 leaders that he wanted released from U.S. custody and sent to El Salvador, where he said they could be interrogated by his security officers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some U.S. law enforcement officials were alarmed over the prospect of sending back leaders of MS-13 now facing charges for alleged crimes in the United States. Both the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy0519\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Treasury Department<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/d9\/press-releases\/attachments\/2023\/02\/23\/ranfla_ii_indictment_foreperson_signaturepdf_0.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Justice Department<\/a> have accused Mr. Bukele\u2019s government of making a secret pact with MS-13, offering its leaders behind bars special privileges to keep homicides down in El Salvador. Mr. Bukele has denied the claims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhat Bukele is desperate for is to get these guys back in El Salvador before they talk in U.S. court,\u201d said Douglas Farah, an El Salvador expert who between 2018 and 2022 collaborated with the Justice Department \u201cVulcan\u201d task force, which targeted MS-13, as a U.S. military contractor.<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nevertheless, U.S. officials agreed to send El Salvador around a dozen senior members of MS-13, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/16\/us\/politics\/trump-venezuelans-deportations-el-salvador.html\" title=\"\">including<\/a> a high-ranking leader named C\u00e9sar Humberto L\u00f3pez-Larios, who had been in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-edny\/pr\/fugitive-high-ranking-ms-13-leader-arrested-terrorism-charges\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. custody<\/a> awaiting trial on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges. Mr. Bukele has so far not received everyone he sought, but U.S. officials say they still intend to send additional gang leaders he has requested. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Mr. Trump and his aides, the unconventional swap \u2014 getting a foreign country to take a group of Venezuelans migrants, along with Salvadoran-born MS-13 members \u2014 was a bargain price to pull off the kind of deportations they sought, even with the millions the United States agreed to pay to house the Venezuelans.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-1f363acd\">The Plan Unfolds<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Early this year, Mr. Alvarado, the Venezuelan asylum seeker, was settling into his new life outside Dallas. The 25-year-old got a promotion at the bakery, from assistant to lead baker, and was sending money home to cover his brother\u2019s doctor appointments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe was a kid who helped his family a lot,\u201d said his boss, Enrique Hern\u00e1ndez. \u201cNeri is a young man without a bad bone in his body.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And Mr. Alvarado finally had a date and time for his asylum hearing: Feb. 13, at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Feb. 4, Mr. Alvarado was getting into his car outside his apartment building to head to work when three vehicles carrying ICE agents pulled up, he later told Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez. They told him he was being detained for illegally entering the United States. Mr. Alvarado responded that he was in the process of seeking asylum and had a hearing in days, he told his boss.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They detained him anyway. On the way to the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in northern Texas, the agents quizzed him about his tattoos, Mr. Alvarado later told his sister, Izaida Alvarado. Mr. Alvarado explained the tattoo on his leg, a rainbow ribbon made of puzzle pieces, was for his autistic brother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That same week, thousands of miles away in El Salvador, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Bukele discussed the deportation deal and took a stroll around the grounds of the presidential residence. Mr. Bukele <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/04\/us\/politics\/el-salvador-prisons-marco-rubio.html\" title=\"\">teased the plan<\/a> to accept \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nayibbukele\/status\/1886606794614587573\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">convicted criminals<\/a>\u201d from the United States, calling it a \u201cno brainer\u201d to work with the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Detained inside Bluebonnet, Mr. Alvarado missed his Feb. 13 asylum hearing, and was told that he would be deported as a result, his sister said. He could appeal, but he was exhausted, he told his family, and ready to give up on the United States and return to Venezuela.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-small css-1189og3 e1g7ppur0\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\"><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-caption\" class=\"css-13ytnnu ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\">After his detention, the agents quizzed Mr. Alvarado about his tattoos. Mr. Alvarado explained the tattoo on his leg, a rainbow ribbon made of puzzle pieces, was for his autistic brother.<\/span><span class=\"css-14fe1uy e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Alvarado family<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-14\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Alvarado was among many migrants detained in the weeks between Mr. Trump\u2019s inauguration and mid-March later sent to the prison in El Salvador \u2014 picked up outside of their homes, in their neighborhoods, or in raids, traffic stops and appearances at their regular ICE check-ins. Some had already been in asylum proceedings or had a form of legal status. Immigration officials zeroed in on Venezuelan <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/16\/us\/tattoos-gangs-tren-de-aragua-immigration.html\" title=\"\">men who had tattoos<\/a>, citing markings such as crowns and clocks as evidence that they were members of Tren de Aragua.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Others also got caught up in the dragnet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On March 12, federal immigration agents pulled over Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia as he was driving through College Park, Md., with his 5-year-old son. Mr. Abrego Garcia had come to the United States illegally in 2012 from El Salvador at age 16, fleeing gang violence, according to his attorneys. In 2019, an immigration judge had determined he should not be deported back to El Salvador because he might face danger there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now, officers were ordering him out of his car, saying his immigration status had changed. The administration would later argue that Mr. Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, a claim that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.mdd.276842\/gov.uscourts.mdd.276842.31.0.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a federal judge would say was questionable<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The next day in Texas,<strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\"> <\/strong>Lindsay Toczylowksi, an immigration attorney, found that her client, a 31-year-old Venezuelan makeup artist named Andry Hern\u00e1ndez Romero, did not appear in court at an expected hearing. Ms. Toczylowski was not initially alarmed. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt sort of felt like we were in the realm of normal immigration chaos,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was not the usual chaos. The administration was already accelerating plans for the El Salvador operation, an effort that would sweep up her client and more than 200 others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-15\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On March 14, the Trump administration exchanged diplomatic notes with El Salvador laying out the terms: Mr. Bukele\u2019s government would receive up to 300 members of Tren de Aragua in exchange for financial support from the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That same day, Mr. Trump hinted at the forthcoming deportations during a speech at the Justice Department. Sitting in the front of the audience was Mr. Miller, who had moments earlier conferred with Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, about the pending deportations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe\u2019ve caught hundreds of them, the Venezuelan gang, which is as bad as it gets,\u201d Mr. Trump told a crowd of loyalists. \u201cAnd you\u2019ll be reading a lot of stories tomorrow about what we\u2019ve done with them and you\u2019ll be very impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-16\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That day, Mr. Trump secretly signed an executive order <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">declaring<\/a> that Tren de Aragua was \u201cconducting irregular warfare\u201d at the direction of Venezuela. He called for the apprehension and removal of all Venezuelans aged 14 and older who were deemed members of the gang, formally invoking the Alien Enemies Act. It was the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/21\/us\/politics\/trump-alien-enemies-act-history.html\" title=\"\">first time<\/a> it had been invoked by a U.S. president since World War II, when it was used to justify the internment of people of Japanese, Italian and German nationality or ancestry. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-17\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The administration would not make Mr. Trump\u2019s proclamation public until the next day, something immigration lawyers would later argue was a deliberate effort to avoid a quick legal challenge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By then, ICE had transferred dozens of Venezuelan men detained around the country to facilities in Texas to prepare for the operation. Many thought they were headed back home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From detention, Mr. Alvarado called his family and told them to prepare for his arrival in Venezuela. So did Gustavo Adolfo Aguilera Ag\u00fcero, 27, another Venezuelan who entered the United States through a Biden-era program before he was picked up by ICE when Mr. Trump came into office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHave patience, vieja, we are going to be together soon,\u201d Mr. Aguilera told his mother using a term of endearment, she later recalled. \u201cThe planes are here.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-793772d9\">In the Air<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-18\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Judge James E. Boasberg opened the virtual hearing late on the afternoon of Saturday, March 15, by apologizing for his attire: a dark sweater, rather than his judicial robe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI went away for the weekend and brought with me neither a robe nor tie nor appropriate shirt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The judge had hastily gathered lawyers for the Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union to consider an emergency petition filed early that morning by the liberal advocacy group, seeking to stop the deportation of five Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Judge Boasberg had quickly paused their deportations, and was considering whether his order should extend to all Venezuelan migrants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He pressed the government: Were there any deportation flights set to take off for El Salvador in the next two days?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-19\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe can certainly investigate that and report that back to you,\u201d said Drew Ensign, a Justice Department lawyer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The judge adjourned the hearing for roughly 40 minutes so that Mr. Ensign could learn more. But when the group reassembled, Mr. Ensign said he could not share any details, citing potential national security issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Shortly before 7 p.m., Judge Boasberg extended his order to cover all migrants who might fall subject to Mr. Trump\u2019s proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act. Any plane en route with deportees needed to turn around, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhether turning around a plane or not embarking anyone on the plane or those people covered by this on the plane, I leave to you,\u201d Judge Boasberg said. \u201cBut this is something that you need to make sure is complied with immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-20\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">What Judge Boasberg did not know at the time was that two flights carrying Venezuelan migrants had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/17\/us\/politics\/timeline-trump-deportation-flights-el-salvador.html\" title=\"\">taken off<\/a> from Texas while the hearing was in recess, according to public databases. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They were in the air when Judge Boasberg issued his order from the bench. A third plane was still on the ground in Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In all, there were more than 260 people on the three aircraft, including 238 Venezuelans and nearly two dozen alleged MS-13 gang members. They were headed to El Salvador.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Inside the White House, senior administration officials quickly discussed the order and whether they should move ahead. The team of Trump advisers decided to go forward, believing the planes were safely in international airspace, and well aware that the legal fight was most likely destined for the Supreme Court, where conservatives have a majority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At 7:36 p.m., the third flight took off. Officials would later say the migrants on that flight were not deported under the Alien Enemies Act, but through regular immigration proceedings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-21\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The White House\u2019s decision to press forward, despite Judge Boasberg\u2019s order, raised questions about whether the administration was defying the court. The Justice Department has argued that a federal judge cannot dictate foreign policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Venezuela, Miriam Aguilera Ag\u00fcero had been waiting up, wondering where her son was. It was not until her daughter-in-law sent her images of the Venezuelan deportees in El Salvador posted on social media that she recognized him. Her heart dropped. The image showed dozens of prisoners in white T-shirts and shorts sitting cross-legged, their hands cuffed and heads down. One detainee stood out for his awkward sitting position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Aguilera\u2019s son had to sit like that, she said, given the damaged discs in his spine.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-12c50c1e\">Disappeared<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-22\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Washington, the Trump administration was working to address Mr. Bukele\u2019s confusion about who the United States had sent him. Eight women who had been mistakenly sent were swiftly flown back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Salvadoran president wanted to confirm that all of the Venezuelans were actually members of Tren de Aragua. Any regular deportees were to be held separately in his prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-23\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Publicly, the administration insisted all 238 Venezuelans who were deported were members of Tren de Aragua. But few <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/15\/world\/americas\/trump-migrants-deportations.html\" title=\"\">had<\/a> documented public links to the gang and officials admitted that many did not have criminal records in the United States. \u201cThe lack of specific information about each individual actually highlights the risk they pose,\u201d Robert L. Cerna, a top deportation official, wrote in a court filing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To determine their gang affiliation, the Homeland Security Department had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/31\/us\/politics\/us-deportations-tren-de-aragua-deportation-guidance.html\" title=\"\">created a scorecard<\/a> in which the men were assigned points for different categories. A broad range of tattoos were worth four points. A tally of eight points was considered evidence of gang membership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">State Department officials said they provided El Salvador with the scorecard and other intelligence showing the Venezuelans were Tren de Aragua members.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, inside the U.S. government, some career staff had qualms about what had unfolded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During an internal State Department briefing about issues related to Latin America, some employees were dismayed to hear that weeks earlier, American spy agencies had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/20\/us\/politics\/intelligence-trump-venezuelan-gang-alien-enemies.html\" title=\"\">assessed<\/a> that Tren de Aragua was not actually controlled by the Venezuelan government \u2014 which was the premise for invoking the Alien Enemies Act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers tried to find out more about how much El Salvador was being paid to imprison the deportees, a figure that administration officials now say amounted to less than $5 million. On March 17, the State Department told the Senate Appropriations Committee that sum could grow to $15 million, but refused to provide any additional details.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-24\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Then scrutiny by the federal courts deepened, exactly the scenario the administration had been trying to avoid. The Supreme Court ruled that the Venezuelans need to have a meaningful chance to challenge their deportations, and the court is expected to weigh in further on the use of the Alien Enemies Act.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In public posts and comments to reporters, Mr. Trump has made his displeasure clear: The courts needed to get out of the way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a very dangerous country,\u201d Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office, \u201cif we\u2019re not allowed to do what we\u2019re entitled to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the relatives and lawyers of the imprisoned men, who have struggled to get information about them from U.S. and Salvadoran authorities, the courts are their last recourse.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez, the bakery owner who had employed Mr. Alvarado, went to an ICE office to try to find out what had happened to his employee, but got no answers. He has considered flying to El Salvador to try to negotiate his freedom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-25\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Hern\u00e1ndez, a U.S. citizen who emigrated to the United States from Venezuela 27 years ago, called the actions of his adopted country \u201ca crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey didn\u2019t investigate him,\u201d he said. \u201cThey took him and they didn\u2019t even know who he was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Zolan Kanno-Youngs<!-- -->, <!-- -->Hamed Aleaziz<!-- -->, <!-- -->Alan Feuer<!-- -->, <!-- -->Devlin Barrett<!-- --> and <!-- -->Jonathan Swan<!-- --> reported from Washington. <!-- -->Julie Turkewitz<!-- --> reported from Bogot\u00e1, Colombia, <!-- -->Maggie Haberman<!-- --> from New York and <!-- -->Annie Correal<!-- --> from Mexico City. Reporting was contributed by <!-- -->Natalie Kitroeff<!-- -->, <!-- -->Jazmine Ulloa<!-- -->, <!-- -->William K. Rashbaum<!-- -->, <!-- -->Robert Jimison<!-- -->, <!-- -->Maria Abi-Habib<!-- --> and <!-- -->Isayen Herrera<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/30\/us\/politics\/trump-deportations-venezuela-el-salvador.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As they addressed reporters inside the Oval Office in mid-April, President Trump and his Salvadoran counterpart appeared to be operating in lock step. The United States had just deported more than 200 migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, and President Nayib Bukele said his country was eager to take more. He scoffed at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/30\/us\/politics\/30dc-deportation-reconstruct-promo\/30dc-deportation-reconstruct-promo-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[219704,208531,201070,173343,2294,66212,5500,50395,1419,169294,90287,173483,172006,201071,219705,181371,86565,11329,173344,166394,5918,170339,28796,204884,183871,1734,180264],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294283,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294281\/revisions\/294283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}