Donald Trump signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law allowing for the immediate deportation of anyone suspected of connections to a terrorist organization. This is the first time in U.S. history that the law has been invoked without Congress declaring a war.
The proclamation specifically targets immigrants accused by the administration of being affiliated with Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The accused can be deported without any evidence, even if they are in the country legally.
Later in the day, a federal judge issued a court order temporarily blocking deportations. The Trump administration ignored the order and flew hundreds of accused gang affiliates to a terrorist concentration camp (CECOT) in El Salvador.
At least a few of the deported are quickly identified as innocent young men who were deported for having tattoos and who immigrated to the states legally to escape gang violence in Venezuela. The Trump administration admits that many of those sent to El Salvador’s CECOT have no criminal record.
Four friends grew up within blocks of one another in Venezuela… As the nation deteriorated, they journeyed to the United States and were eking out a new life in Dallas, where they worked long hours and shared a townhouse.
Then, on Thursday, armed officers showed up at their home, arrested them and took them to a Texas detention center, Mervin Yamarte, 29, told his mother by phone. Family members do not know the charges, if any, and the men’s names do not appear in federal, state or local criminal court records.
What happened next horrified the families. Yamarte said they were asked to sign deportation papers and agreed, thinking they would soon be back with their children and loved ones in Venezuela. But a day later, his mother saw a jarring video released by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele showing alleged gang members being violently pulled off planes from the United States and dragged to a mega-prison notorious for allegations of human rights abuses.
Mercedes Yamarte spotted her son.
The Washington Post
Upon arriving in El Salvador, Trump’s victims have their head shaved while being filmed for a video promoting the deportation program.
