Despite a temporary stay by a federal court, the United States sent more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador. They will be held there. All of them are members of the Venezuelan ‘Tren de Aragua’ gang.
President Trump used martial law to expel them from the United States, ignoring the court order.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele wrote on social media that 238 members of the Tren de Aragua gang had arrived in his country. They were joined by 23 members of the Mexican gang MS-13 on Sunday morning.
The news of their arrival in El Salvador came hours after US Federal Court Judge James Boersberg issued a stay on the Trump administration’s order to expel Venezuelan gang members using the 1798 ‘Foreign Enemies Act’.
The judge also ordered the plane to be turned back after hearing about the Venezuelan gang members taking off, according to The Washington Post.
But the plane ignored the order and went to El Salvador. President Bukele joked about the US judge’s order in another post on social media, writing, “Oh… it’s too late.”
Bukele said the Venezuelan gang members were immediately taken to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center for a year. The detention period could be extended later.
“The United States will pay very little for these prisoners, but a lot more for us,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the arrival of the Venezuelan criminals in El Salvador and praised President Bukele.
Sources: BBC, Al Jazeera, Reuters.