The Trump administration transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even after a federal judge issued an order temporarily prohibiting deportations under an 18th-century war declaration that the current administration recently decided to adopt against immigrants.
The flights carrying immigrants were in the air at the time of the decision.
Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order on Saturday (15) temporarily blocking deportations, but lawyers told him that there were already two planes with immigrants in the air — one heading to El Salvador, the other to Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes to return, but that did not happen.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a statement on Sunday (16), responded to speculation about whether the government was disregarding court orders: “The government did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no legal basis, was issued after foreign terrorists had already been removed from U.S. territory.”
Transfer to El Salvador
A mega-prison in El Salvador where visitation, recreation, and education are not allowed has become the latest tool in President Trump’s crackdown on immigration. On Sunday, hundreds of immigrants, described by the government as “terrorist members of a Venezuelan gang – Tren de Aragua,” were transferred there.
The arrival of the immigrants occurred under an agreement in which the Trump administration will pay President Nayib Bukele’s government $6 million for a year of services.
Bukele has made the country’s severe prisons a hallmark of his fight against crime. In 2023, he opened the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, to which immigrants who were in the U.S. were sent over the weekend.
The facility has eight extensive pavilions and can house up to 40,000 inmates. Each cell can accommodate 65 to 70 prisoners.
Inmates at CECOT do not receive visits and are never allowed to leave. The prison does not offer workshops or educational programs to prepare them for returning to society after their sentences.
The Salvadoran government does not regularly update the number, but the human rights organization Cristosal reported that in March 2024, the prison housed 110,000 people.
Source: AP