DEPORTATIONS50+ Venezuelans Imprisoned in El Salvador Came to U.S. Legally, Never Violated Immigration Law
Shortly after the U.S. government illegally and unconstitutionally transported about 240 Venezuelans to be imprisoned in El Salvador’s notorious “terrorism” prison, a CBS News investigation found that 75 percent of the men had no criminal record in the United States or abroad. Less attention has been paid to the fact that dozens of these men never violated immigration laws either.
Shortly after the US government illegally and unconstitutionally transported about 240 Venezuelans to be imprisoned in El Salvador’s horrific “terrorism” prison on March 15, CBS News published their names. A subsequent CBS News investigation found that 75 percent of the men on that list had no criminal record in the United States or abroad. Less attention has been paid to the fact that dozens of these men never violated immigration laws either.
Why This Review Was Needed
The US government not only denied these men due process; it has also generally failed to provide their families, their attorneys, or the public any information about what it alleges these men did to deserve incarceration in El Salvador. In fact, it has never even published a comprehensive list of individuals that it has sent to El Salvador, and it has refused to verify the CBS News list. Journalists have already discovered that the list obtained by CBS News was incomplete.
Moreover, in most cases, the men never knew the “evidence” against them or that they were being removed to El Salvador. Finally, the US and Salvadoran governments won’t allow the men to talk to anyone, so there is no way to interview them directly.
Given the total lack of transparency by the federal government, we have compiled what the families of the men themselves are reporting about their entries and what likely triggered their incarceration in El Salvador. Their stories are often corroborated by government entry documents, witness testimony, and the administration’s statements about them.
How the Imprisoned Venezuelans Came to America
Sadly, no information regarding one in three of the men could be found online. Maybe no one in their families knows they are missing, or maybe they are too afraid to speak up. For 48 percent of the 174 about whom we have some information, we have no information about their method of crossing into the United States. For many, the only information is Facebook or Instagram posts from their mothers pleading for information about their children. About 100 relatives also signed a letter to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, but it contains no case-specific information.
