At least 50 Venezuelans deported to El Salvador legally entered the United States

Since March 15, some 260 men have been imprisoned in the high-security CECOT prison in El Salvador. The men ended up in CECOT because the United States government secretly detained and transferred them without a court order. The Trump administration claims they are dangerous criminals, but most of them have no criminal records. A report has further revealed that at least 50 of them entered the United States legally, even though the government insists its anti-immigration crackdown targets undocumented immigrants.

“These people came to the United States with advanced U.S. government permission, were vetted and screened before arrival, violated no U.S. immigration law, and the U.S. government turned around and ‘disappeared’ them without due process to a foreign prison,” concludes the report by the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank.

To prepare the report — given the government’s lack of transparency — the Cato Institute collected information provided by families, corroborated by official entry documents, witness statements, and government comments about the men.

One of the legal migrants held a temporary visa, and four had authorization through the U.S. refugee program because they faced persecution in their countries. The other 45 had scheduled appointments with authorities through CBP One, the app developed by the Biden administration to prevent illegal entries that was shut down by the Trump administration. Of these, 24 were granted parole in the United States, where they could live and work legally for up to two years, while the other 21 were detained at the port of entry.

Most of those released found work as bricklayers, pipe fitters, cooks, and delivery drivers. Among those deported were also a soccer coach, a makeup artist, a mechanic, a veterinarian, a musician and a businessman. According to Cato, they collectively had 44 children under their care.

The detainees were put on a plane without knowing their destination, and neither they nor their families and lawyers were given information about the charges against them. CBS News published a list of the names of the deportees, but the government has not confirmed it.

The Cato Institute acknowledges that it couldn’t find online information for a third of the deportees. “Maybe no one in their families knows they are missing, or maybe they are too afraid to speak up. For 48% of the 174 about whom we have some information, we have no information about their method of crossing into the United States,” the report states.

The U.S. government invoked the Alien Enemies Act, outdated legislation from 1798, to justify the deportations, claiming the individuals were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the Salvadoran group MS-13. The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the application of the law, which has only been used in times of war.

Tattoos to blame

All of the migrants who entered the U.S. legally have denied being gang members, and only two appear to have had any criminal convictions in the United States, both for minor drug offenses.

In the absence of evidence and convictions, immigration authorities have based their accusations of gang membership on their tattoos and clothing. At least 42 of the deportees were identified as gang members primarily based on their tattoos, which, according to experts, are not associated with criminal groups and are quite common among the general population.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, internal government documents distributed to low-level agents to help them identify alleged Tren de Aragua gang tattoos included random images taken from the internet from all over the world.

 “The operation was riddled with errors and lack of due process, sending innocent people to one of the worst prisons in the world,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an immigration lawyer. CECOT is the prison built by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to detain alleged gang members. It is notorious for its deplorable conditions and human rights violations.

Andry Hernández, a makeup artist, was deported to El Salvador after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent determined that his tattoos — a crown over the words “mama” and “papa” — were likely gang tattoos. As a New Yorker investigation noted, Hernández hails from a Venezuelan town famous for its annual El Día de los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day, where a crown is used as a traditional symbol.

Venezuelan professional soccer player Jerce Reyes was also deported to El Salvador despite having no criminal record. ICE agents determined that his tattoo — a soccer ball with a crown — was evidence of a connection to the Tren de Aragua gang. The tattoo artist who inked Reyes said that the design was a tribute to Reyes’s favorite team, Real Madrid, which has a similar emblem.

The case that has sparked the most outrage among those deported to CECOT is that of Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego García. Even the government later admitted he was deported by mistake, as he had judicial protection that should have prevented his removal. His case has reached the Supreme Court, which has called for his return to the United States. However, the situation has not been remedied, and there is no indication that the Trump administration intends to correct its error.

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