The Trump administration, invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, deported 238 Venezuelan immigrants—not to Venezuela, but to a supermax prison in El Salvador. This action followed an agreement with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, under which the Central American country is reportedly set to receive $6 million from the U.S. government. Without providing conclusive evidence, the U.S. government accused the deportees of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which it recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
The deportation violated U.S. immigration laws by bypassing due process, which requires authorities to substantiate their accusations, provide detainees with access to legal representation, and uphold the presumption of innocence. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 has been invoked only three times in U.S. history: during the War of 1812 against Britain, World War I, and World War II. The law explicitly states that it may only be used against nationals of a foreign government with which the U.S. is at war or which is actively invading the country—conditions that clearly do not apply to a criminal gang.
The treatment of the deportees was deliberately dehumanizing. They were forced to wear white garments, subjected to public head-shaving while kneeling with their heads pressed down by police officers, and shackled hand and foot upon arrival in El Salvador. As they were escorted from the plane to the detention centre, officers again forced their heads down. Inside the facility, they were ordered to sit on the floor with their hands tied behind their backs and their heads bowed. Every aspect of their humanity was violated, leaving them subjected to humiliation, injustice, and cruelty.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced the deportations, revealing that some individuals were detained while sleeping, while others were apprehended while attempting to register for Venezuela’s “Return to the Homeland” program, which has repatriated over a million Venezuelans. “They were thrown in jail, their cell phones confiscated, their accounts and assets frozen, and then forced onto a plane—handcuffed and beaten,” Maduro stated angrily. Worse still, in El Salvador, the deportees face forced labour despite not being formally indicted or charged with any specific crime, apart from vague and unsubstantiated allegations of gang membership.
This treatment aligns with the Trump administration’s broader anti-immigrant policies, which carry clear xenophobic and racist undertones. By criminalizing Venezuelan and other immigrants, the administration seeks to legitimize the blatant violation of their fundamental human rights.
President Maduro has raised the issue with the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, leaders across Latin America and the Caribbean, and numerous human rights organizations, including the UNHCR. He publicly demanded, “This situation must cease immediately. [The migrants] must return to their families in their country,” adding, “We will not rest until they are reunited with their homeland.”
Several Salvadoran organizations have also condemned the operation, calling it a flagrant violation of national sovereignty and human rights. They have criticized the agreement between the Trump administration and the Bukele regime, accusing both of complicity in this racist and xenophobic act of kidnapping Venezuelan immigrants.
We strongly and unequivocally condemn this racist and xenophobic attack on Venezuelan immigrants, which seeks to stigmatize and persecute those seeking better opportunities in the United States. We call on all progressive forces to join us in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of these individuals so they may return to their families in Venezuela.