Politics
NEW: Trump Deports Venezuelan Gang Members To El Salvador Despite Federal Judge’s Ruling
Several members of the violent Tren de Aragua Venezuelan prison gang arrived in El Salvador on Sunday morning just hours after President Trump invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to swiftly deport known and suspected gang members. The detainees arrived in El Salvador — where they will be housed in the nation’s impenetrable super-max prison for a small fee — despite a ruling from an Obama-appointed federal judge that ordered a halt to the act’s enforcement for 14 days.
Citing widespread evidence of Tren de Aragua’s infiltration of Venezuela’s security agencies, as well as support for the gang from dictator Nicolas Maduro’s regime, Trump announced Saturday that he will be taking extraordinary measures to rid the United States of the gang’s presence. The gang has been widely involved in human trafficking, drug dealing, extortion, organized retail theft and several additional crimes in both the U.S. and abroad. In the town of Aurora, Colorado, TdA members took over an entire apartment complex and were able to extort and threaten residents with impunity.
On February 20, Trump designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization after consultation with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He then announced that he will be invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and directed the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to “apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove every” Venezuelan migrant, 14 or older, who is deemed to be part of Tren de Aragua and who lacks U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
Under the act, targeted individuals could be arrested, detained and deported without any of the due process protections provided under U.S. immigration law. Instead, they would be treated as enemy aliens and processed under America’s wartime laws.
Just hours after the order was announced, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, placed a 14-day halt on Trump’s implementation of the Alien Enemies Act. The Obama appointee went so far as to order planes carrying gang members that were already in the air to turn around immediately and return to the United States.
The judge — who sentenced dozens of Americans to lengthy prison terms for peacefully protesting on January 6, 2021 — made the ruling in response to a federal civil lawsuit filed Saturday by a group of five Venezuelan men in immigration custody in Texas and New York local jails against President Trump and other administration officials. In response, the Department of Justice immediately filed an appeal, arguing that the D.C. court has no jurisdiction over the matter.
The activist judge’s ruling seemingly had no effect on the administration’s deportation plans, however, as more than 200 Tren de Aragua members, as well as a number of senior MS-13 leaders, arrived in El Salvador early Sunday morning. The administration had previously discussed plans with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to house violent criminals in its super-max prison Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison.
“Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable),” Bukele wrote in an X post alongside a video of the detainees arriving in the country. He added that the U.S. will be paying a small fee to house the detainees that will go a long way for El Salvador, thus benefiting both nations tremendously.
The prison — which costs roughly $200 million per year to operate — is largely credited with turning El Salvador to one of the safest nations in the western hemisphere after it was one of the most dangerous countries in the world just under a decade ago. Bukele has ordered a massive crackdown on gangs and has imprisoned all gang members in the CECOT facility, where they are crowded into massive cells and watched by teams of armed guards around the clock.
Prisoners who can be rehabilitated are given tasks and taught valuable trade skills in order to benefit the Salvadoran economy and provide them with a way to reintegrate back into civilian life upon release.
“On this occasion, the U.S. has also sent us 23 MS-13 members wanted by Salvadoran justice, including two ringleaders. One of them is a member of the criminal organization’s highest structure,” Bukele continued in his X post. “This 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.”
Bukele — who sidestepped corrupt federal judges as part of his anti-crime and anti-corruption crackdown — also responded to a post highlighting the fact that Boasberg ordered the deportation flights to turn around. “Oopsie…. too late,” the Salvadoran president posted alongside a laughing emoji.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the administration will be undeterred by activist judges and thanked President Bukele for his assistance in an X post of his own.We have sent 2 dangerous top MS-13 leaders plus 21 of its most wanted back to face justice in El Salvador. Also, as promised by @POTUS, we sent over 250 alien enemy members of Tren de Aragua which El Salvador has agreed to hold in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save our taxpayer dollars,” Rubio wrote.
“President @nayibbukele is not only the strongest security leader in our region, he’s also a great friend of the U.S. Thank you!”
