A plane carrying 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the international MS-13 gang landed in El Salvador on Sunday morning, despite a US judge’s order to halt the deportations. This move was part of an arrangement between the US and El Salvador, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as “the most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world”.
The deportees were immediately transferred to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), a maximum-security facility that can hold up to 40,000 people. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele announced that the detainees would be held at the center for a period of one year, which is renewable. Bukele also mentioned that the US would pay a “very low fee” for the detainees, but the cost would be “high” for El Salvador.
The US invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to justify the deportations, which allows the government to detain and deport people threatening the country’s safety without due process. However, US District Judge James Boasberg blocked the application of the law for 14 days, stating that it refers to “hostile acts” perpetrated by another country that are “commensurate to war”.
Venezuela criticized the US for invoking the wartime measure, saying it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration”. Meanwhile, Rubio confirmed the deportations and thanked Bukele, calling him “the strongest security leader in our region”.
The deportations are part of Trump’s long-running crusade against illegal immigration in the US. In January, Trump signed an executive order declaring Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations. However, the agenda has not met expectations, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents not meeting Trump’s daily quota for arrests.
