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The government of El Salvador told the United Nations that more than 100 Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration to its maximum-security prison, CECOT, in March remain under the sole custody of the U.S. government — appearing to undercut months of assertions by senior Trump officials, who have repeatedly claimed they have no power to compel the return of these individuals.
The U.N. report was included Monday in a court filing submitted by lawyers for the ACLU and other migrant groups representing more than 100 detainees at CECOT who are challenging their removal from the U.S. to the maximum-security Salvadorian prison.
The filing included a copy of statements made by the Salvadorian government to a U.N. human rights office in April, as part of an investigation brought on behalf of four families.
At the time, El Salvador officials told the U.N. that the “jurisdiction and legal responsibility” for detainees sent by the U.S. to CECOT in March lies “exclusively” with the U.S., citing a $6 million agreement it struck with the U.S. in March to host roughly 300 migrant prisoners.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS RETURN OF DEPORTED MIGRANT TO US, REJECTING TRUMP REQUEST
Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Mar. 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
That assertion came roughly one month after the Trump administration in March invoked a 1798 wartime immigration law to more quickly deport Venezuelan nationals, including alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
Prior to March, the U.S. invoked the law just three times, including most recently during World War II.
Lawyers representing the migrants argued Monday that the statement included in the U.N. report should be grounds for plaintiffs to seek additional discovery in the case, which had been overseen…
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