The United States has sent a total of 261 people, including 238 Venezuelan citizens, to El Salvador despite a court order. Venezuela and various human rights groups have criticized the Trump administration's move. Reuters, BBC
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the information in separate statements. Nayib Bukele wrote on social media on Sunday morning local time that among the extradited people are 238 members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. There are 23 members of the international gang group MS-13. These people will be held in a high-security prison in El Salvador. For this, the Central American country will receive money from the United States.
According to a report by the news agency Reuters, US President Donald Trump ordered the use of the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act on Friday to quickly extradite the Tren de Aragua members. It is known as wartime law.
The following day, Saturday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington ordered a 14-day stay of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. He said the law covers “hostile acts” committed by another country that “tantamount to war.”
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele mocked the U.S. judge’s order, saying, “Oh, it’s too late.”
The United States signed a deal with El Salvador last month to hold foreign criminals in prisons in the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it an “unprecedented and extraordinary immigration deal.”
Bukele said that those extradited from the United States were immediately sent to a terrorist detention center (SECT) for a year. Their detention could be extended if necessary.
The United States has agreed to pay El Salvador $6 million to keep 300 accused members of the Train de Aragua in prison for a year, the Associated Press reported on Saturday. Venezuela has criticized the United States for using martial law against its own citizens. In a statement, the country said the United States is “unjustly criminalizing Venezuelan migrants, invoking the horrific memories of slavery and Nazi concentration camps, which are known as the darkest episodes in human history.”