The transfer of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to a prison in El Salvador by the U.S. federal government has raised sharp questions in Washington, where many are trying to determine if the White House ignored a judge’s order that directed the deportation flights to return to American soil.
While it’s clear that the Trump administration has shown strong opposition toward the judge and the court involved, several deeper questions still need answers. Did authorities confirm that all the men deported were members of criminal groups as they claimed?
And how exactly were they identified among the roughly 200 people flown out, even while a judge was still reviewing their legal status? The Trump administration has stated that most of those deported belonged to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
This group, like many others operating across borders, has been linked to illegal activity inside the United States. With migration reaching record levels at the southern border in recent years, Mr. Trump regularly pointed to the group’s presence in certain U.S. cities to argue that immigrants were flooding the country unlawfully.
Tren de Aragua continued to feature heavily in Mr. Trump’s immigration messaging even after he resumed office in January. The recent deportation flights have been described by his administration as the most direct effort yet to fulfill their vow to target the gang.
However, officials have not been transparent about the exact steps they took to confirm the gang affiliation of those deported or whether these individuals were given the chance to contest those accusations.
The men were flown to El Salvador, where a government friendly to the Trump administration agreed to imprison them in return for a multi-million-dollar payment.
Legal Disputes and Judicial Orders
On Monday, the Justice Department did not respond to several questions from a federal judge in Washington, D.C., who had earlier ordered the flight to be turned around.
By Tuesday afternoon, the judge demanded that the Justice Department submit a confidential report before noon on Wednesday that would provide the timeline for when the planes departed, exited U.S. airspace, and touched down in El Salvador.
Many of those sent out of the country over the weekend were deported under an old legal authority known as the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Trump administration claims that this law allowed them to remove suspected members of Tren de Aragua who were at least 14 years old with little to no legal process.
The law gives the president wide-ranging powers to expel foreign nationals identified as enemy aliens during times of war or invasion.
According to a filing submitted Monday night after the court hearing, Robert L. Cerna II, a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, claimed that each individual had gone through a review process. He said this included surveillance data, financial transaction reviews, and interviews with victims.
Even so, Mr. Cerna’s statement raised several concerns. He mentioned that ICE records showed some of the deportees had been arrested and convicted for violent crimes within the United States, while others had convictions outside the country.
He also admitted that many of them had no criminal charges filed against them in U.S. courts. Despite that, he maintained that their absence of criminal history did not mean they weren’t a threat. Others were reportedly picked up during raids where they were found close to known members of Tren de Aragua.
Doubts from Families and Legal Advocates
More and more family members, lawyers, and public officials have begun challenging the claims made by the administration. Several immigration attorneys say their clients may have been flagged simply for having visible tattoos. In New York, one Venezuelan man’s removal was stopped by legal intervention, with his lawyers insisting he had no gang links whatsoever.
Lindsay Toczylowski, an attorney at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, spoke about her client who works in the arts and had been detained since applying for asylum through the CBP One mobile app last year.
She said that while he was suspected of gang involvement because of his tattoos, his legal team was never given the chance to dispute the accusation before a judge. She said he was moved from California to Texas earlier this month. By Saturday, his name had disappeared from the federal detainee search system.
According to her, “This client clearly shows that the administration did not do the proper checks to confirm the identities and histories of those they sent to El Salvador.” She chose not to disclose his name for safety reasons.
Criticism from Lawmakers and Concerns About Due Process
Some Democratic lawmakers have gone beyond criticizing the administration for ignoring a court ruling. They’ve also expressed concern over whether those deported were rightfully sent to prison in El Salvador.
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois issued a public statement on Monday, saying, “The Trump administration is deporting immigrants based only on where they come from and without proper legal review. It’s the job of the courts to decide if someone has broken the law, not the president acting on his own.”
The group of Venezuelans sent to El Salvador last weekend totaled over 260 people. Among them, 137 were deported under the Alien Enemies Act, while 101 others were removed through standard immigration procedures, according to administration officials.
Experts in immigration law said detainees must still be granted proper hearings, even during wartime. Georgetown University law professor Stephen Vladeck stated in an email that the Alien Enemies Act specifically allows for “a full examination and hearing” before a noncitizen can be deported.
He added that even during World War II, courts held hearings to determine if those labeled enemy aliens were indeed citizens of hostile nations.
Venezuela Responds to the Deportations
The Venezuelan government has strongly opposed the deportations to El Salvador. In a statement released on Sunday, the government led by Nicolás Maduro accused the Trump administration of threatening to kidnap minors as young as 14 by falsely labeling them as terrorists.
They said Venezuelans were being branded as criminals solely based on their nationality. Mariyin Araujo, aged 32, described what happened to the father of her two daughters, aged 2 and 6. She said he fled Venezuela after taking part in two protests against the Maduro regime.
During the second protest, he was arrested and tortured, including being shocked with electricity and suffocated. After registering with the CBP One app in Mexico, he arrived at his scheduled U.S. appointment and was detained in San Diego.
She explained that he was a former professional footballer and coach, and he had a tattoo showing a crown above a football on his arm. Immigration officers reportedly said the tattoo was associated with Tren de Aragua.
She said they had submitted his clean criminal record, job references, and other documents to prove he was a responsible citizen. Despite this, before his case reached a decision, he called her to say he was being moved to a detention facility in Texas.
She lost contact with him until she saw a photo on social media where he appeared sitting on the floor in a white prison uniform, his head bowed, among other men held in El Salvador.
Although she has tried to contact the prison authorities, she later learned that the facility where he is being kept does not allow calls or visits from family. “I was really hoping it wasn’t him in that photo, but it was,” she said. “He doesn’t belong there. He’s not a criminal.”
