President Trump was ordered by a judge and forced deporting more than 250 Venezuelans, accused of Tren de Aragua of crime.
In an unprecedented move, more than 250 Venezuelans have been deported by the United States and sent to El Salvador, where they are transferred to the largest security prison, confirmed Sunday.
The Trump administration accused them of being a member of Tren de Agua’s crimes and called the Alien Enemy Act of 1798 to deport them.
Tren de Aragua comes from the infamous, lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and is associated with tricking, extortion, organized crime and contract killings.
The increasing risks in Venezuela related to gang crime have led to the departure of millions of Venezuelans. Trump seized the gang during a campaign to draw misleading photos of the community he allegedly claimed.
US District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order on Saturday evening that blocked deportation, but lawyers told him there were already two planes in the air. Boasberg verbally ordered the plane to turn around, but they clearly did not, and he did not include the order in his written order.
Bukele announced via social network X that 238 members of the Venezuelan gang have arrived in their country and have been transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT), a megaprison capable of 40,000 inmates, to one-year prisoners who could potentially renew the one-year period.
A video shared on Bukele’s social media shows detainees whose bound hands and feet are escorted by armed officers from an airplane. Some are placed on armored vehicles, while others are leaned down and pushed against the bus as officers push their heads down.
Controversial law
The alien enemy law, summoned during the Second World War and the war of 1812, requires the President to declare the United States at war, giving the extraordinary power to detain or dismiss foreigners protected under the immigration or crime law. Finally, it was used to justify the detention of Japanese-American civilians during World War II.
The ACLU, which filed a lawsuit leading to a temporary restraining order on Boasberg’s deportation, said it was asking the government whether the removal to El Salvador is against the court.
“This morning we asked the government to assure the court that the order had not been violated and that it was waiting for us to do our own investigation,” ACLU’s lead lawyer, Lee Gelernt, said in a statement Sunday.
In a statement on Sunday, Venezuelan government rejected the use of Trump’s law declaration, characterising the evocation of “the darkest episode in human history, from slavery to the horrors of Nazi concentration camps.”
The Trump administration has not identified immigrants being deported and has not provided evidence that they are members of Tren de Aragua or that they committed crimes in the United States. They also sent two top members of the Salvador MS-13 gang to El Salvador, where they were arrested in the US.
Immigration lawyers said late Friday that they noticed Venezuelans who otherwise could not be deported under immigration laws that were moved to Texas for deportation flights. They began filing lawsuits to stop the relocation.
“Essentially, Venezuelan citizens in the US could be removed under the pretext of not having a chance to defend themselves and belonging to Tren de Aragua,” warned Adam Isaxon of the Washington Latin America office, a human rights group, warning of the X.
The lawsuit, which led to a pending deportation, was filed on behalf of five Venezuelans held in Texas, saying the lawyers were concerned they would be falsely accused of being a gang member. When the law was invoked, they warned that Trump could declare members of Tren de Aragua and remove them from the country.
Boasberg banned the deportation of Venezuelans on Saturday morning, where the lawsuit was filed, but spread it to all those who could be targeted for the act after an afternoon hearing. He pointed out that the law has never been used before outside of the war declared in Congress, and the plaintiffs may argue that Trump is beyond his legal authority when calling it.
Deportation bars can be shortened for up to 14 days, during which immigrants will maintain federal custody. Boasberg is scheduled for a hearing Friday to hear additional debates in the incident.
He said that immigrants whose deportation could actually violate the Constitution are worthy of the opportunity to hear their pleas in court, so he must act.
“Once they were out of the country, Boasberg said, “There’s very little I can do.”
Timeline and reaction
Following Boasberg’s judicial order, Bukele responded with a oc-lol on social media: “Oops… too late.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the suspect’s gang members had arrived at El Salvador and thanked Buquere and called him “the most powerful security leader in our region.”
The operation is part of Trump’s long-term crusade against illegal immigration to the United States. In January, Trump signed an executive order declaring Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations.
During his campaign, Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history. However, recent reports suggest that Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents deported immigrants in February 2025 rather than in the same month in February 2025.
Agreement between El Salvador and the United States
The agreement between the US and El Salvador is a sign of strengthening diplomatic relations. According to the Associated Press, the US has reportedly agreed to pay 5.5 million euros to jail El Salvador for a year.
“The US will pay very low fees for them, but for us, it will pay high fees,” added Bukere.
Rubio said it was a “safe third country” deal to deport citizens who violate US immigration laws. This means that the US government can banish immigrants from other countries that do not have Salvadoran nationality to El Salvador.
“He also offered to do the same thing as dangerous offenders currently in custody and dangerous offenders serving sentences in the United States, even those currently in custody,” Rubio said.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government has rejected the use of “anachronistic” US law, saying it was violating immigrant rights, and has said gang members are suspicious.
