Approximately 250 suspected gang members arrived in El Salvador by plane in this photo on Sunday, including 238 members of the Venezuelan trending lagua gang and 23 members of the MS-13 gang who were expelled to El Salvador by the United States. El Salvador President Naive Bukere confirmed that he will be sent to Secott, a mega prison, a terrorism confinement center.
President El Salvador / Handouts / Annadoll via Getty Images
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The Trump administration deported around 250 people this weekend, whom he claims to be members of Venezuelan prison gangster Tren de Aragua.
It was not immediately clear whether deportation occurred before or after a federal judge in D.C. on Saturday. The emergency order instructed the government to halt the use of wartime forces and quickly expel people and turn around the planes already in the air. Senior Justice Department officials filed Sunday claimed the order was too late as the plane was already outside of US territory.
President Trump issued it on Saturday declaration Calls the alien enemy law of 1798 against Tren de Aragua. Rarely used laws grant the president the authority to detain or control the citizens of enemy states during wartime or invasion. This is the first time this law has been used since World War II.
The deportation to El Salvador also included two leaders of the MS-13 gang and 21 other members of the gang, not included in Saturday’s actions, according to the Secretary of State’s post. Marco Rubio And from President El Salvador Nayib Bukele.
The MS-13 began in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but many of its members are also active in El Salvador and also owned by the Trump administration. specified That’s as a Foreign terrorists Organization.
“Thanks to the great work of the State Department, these vicious monsters will be extracted and taken to El Salvador, and unable to pose a threat to Americans,” White House spokesman Carolyn Leavitt said in a statement.
“oooopsie…too late” Postedin response to news headlines about judicial orders.
With immigrants currently in El Salvador, it is unclear what jurisdiction the US courts hold. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on when the plane landed.
Government lawyers on Sunday I wrote that By the time of the judge’s order at 7:26pm on Saturday, “some gang members who were being removed under the declaration had already been removed from US territory.” The court filings were signed by the Department of Justice’s Supreme Leader, including Attorney General Pam Bondy and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Alien Enemy Law allows for a quick removal process. That is, those subject to the President’s declaration cannot go through regular immigration lawsuits in court or claim asylum. The declaration also leaves no time to challenge the government’s claim that people are members of criminal gangs.
Salvador’s spokesman Wendy Ramos told NPR that he had no details about the people who were deported, including whether he was convicted of a crime in the United States.
The law requires “invasion or predatory invasion.”
Immigrant rights advocates fear calling the law opens the door to targeting and deporting others, regardless of their status or criminal history.
The last time the president summoned the alien enemy law was World War II. There are suspected 31,000 enemy aliens Mostly Japanese, Italian and German descent were located in concentration camps and military facilities. The law requires war to be formally declared or “aggressive or predatory invasion” by foreign or governments.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy moved forward in a lawsuit on Saturday, attempting to stop the deportation of five Venezuelan men for 14 days, then widening demands for all who could be deported under Trump’s “Alien Enemy” declaration.
Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. agreed to block the deportation of five men on Saturday. He later spread the order to those covered by Trump’s declaration. Another hearing for the incident is set for March 21st.
The Trump administration has already appealed the judge’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Circuit.
Lee Gererund, the lead lawyer in the ACLU case, said the use of the alien enemy regime is illegal as it is up to Congress to declare a state of war that allows the detention of so-called “foreigners.”
“Alien enemy laws cannot be used during peacetimes for regular immigration enforcement,” Gellan said. “The legislation was very clear in its law that it can only be used against foreign governments and foreigners. It has never been used during peace in the history of our country, and it is much less for gangs.”
Beyond the question of presidential authority, Gerrellund also questioned whether the hundreds deported to El Salvador were in fact members of the gang.
“These individuals did not have a hearing to show that they were not members of the gang,” Gellan said.
El Salvador accepts decoy
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with President Naive Buquere, president of El Salvador, in El Salvador, on February 3, 2025.
Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/AP/AFP via Getty Images
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El Salvador president Buquel posted a video of him saying he was a 238 member of Tren de Aragua, who arrived in El Salvador on Sunday. He said they will be transferred to Cecot, a national terrorist confinement centre for a year.
The Salvador government on Sunday shared dozens of photos showing a man kneeling with handcuffs surrounded by security guards after shaving his head.
El Salvador used CECOT.”Mega prison“The imprisonment of gang members as part of a wider crackdown that allows police to detain anyone suspected of having a gang affiliation, even without evidence.
U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said last month that President El Salvador agreed to accept US nationality. Bukere’s social media post on Sunday refers to the “very low fees” the US paid to El Salvador for its deportation.
“Thank you for your assistance and friendship, President Bukere said on social media on Sunday. El Salvador has agreed to detain deported people in their very good prisons at fair prices that save our taxpayers dollars. Added.
NPR Eyeder peralta and Daniel Kurtzleben I contributed to this story.
