The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced on Monday the sending of 17 migrants to El Salvador, whom he has accused of being criminals members of gangs. The operation was carried out on Sunday night, despite the judicial blockages that have followed “last night, in a successful anti-terrorism operation with our allies in El Salvador, the United States Army transferred to a group of 17 violent criminals from the organizations Train of Aragua and MS-13, including murderers and rapists,” said Rubio in a statement.
The announcement occurs after two judicial failures prohibited express deportations based on the law of foreign enemies, dating from the 18th century and has only been applied in war situations. The last time it was used was during World War II. The rule allows expulsions without a court order.
A Washington DC Court of use this law, which a district judge had issued on March 15. Federal district magistrate James Boasberg responded to a lawsuit filed by the Civil Libertads Defense Organization AGU against the shipment of more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador without having a court order that justified it.
The judge ordered the return of the flight, but the authorities ignored and the plane landed in El Salvador, so the Donald Trump government received harsh criticism from the magistrate. In disagreement with the decisions of both courts, the Republican Administration requested to lift the prohibitions.
The images that were distributed from the handcuffed migrants entering the plane and those who shaved their heads to enter Endesatized strong criticisms worldwide for the violation of the rights of the detainees, who were left incommunicado and without counting on the presence of a lawyer.
From the Trump government it has been justified that Venezuelans sent belong to the Venezuelan Gang Train of Aragua, declared as a terrorist organization by the Republican, although there have been no signs of it. Relatives of the detainees have denounced that they have no legal history and that they have only been sent for the tattoos they have, many of those that the Government identifies as signs of belonging to the gangs.
Also . In an X publication he said that the deportees were “confirmed murderers and high -profile criminals, including six minor rapists.” “This operation is a new step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime,” he added. The Salvadoran president also published a video with the arrival of the detainees.
A list of 16 deportees published by a Fox News reporter and confirmed by the White House showed 12 people with a criminal record, a confessed gang member and three who faced charges, according to the Reuters agency.
The transfer of Venezuelans to El Salvador occurs after deportation flights to Venezuela have resumed. Sunday landed in Caracas a plane with 175 Venezuelan migrants from the United States.
