Mon Mar 17 06:59:22 UTC 2025: ## Hundreds of Deportées Sent to El Salvador’s Mega-Prison Under Trump Administration Deal

**SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (March 17, 2025)** — Hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants, allegedly members of the Tren de Aragua gang, were deported to El Salvador and transferred to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) on Sunday, March 16th. This action is part of a $6 million annual agreement between the Trump administration and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.

CECOT, a massive prison holding up to 40,000 inmates in harsh conditions with no visits, recreation, or education allowed, has become a symbol of Bukele’s aggressive anti-crime strategy. The deportations occurred despite a federal judge’s temporary injunction against them, issued under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act invoked by President Trump. Trump claimed the gang posed a threat to U.S. national security, though no evidence has been publicly presented to support this assertion.

The Trump administration has not identified the deportees or confirmed their alleged gang affiliation. Videos released by El Salvador show the men being transported in shackles, heads forcibly lowered, and subjected to head shaving before being dressed in uniform and placed in overcrowded cells.

Human rights organizations like Cristosal have raised serious concerns about human rights abuses within El Salvador’s prison system, citing reports of deaths, torture, and lack of medical care. El Salvador’s prison population has more than doubled since Bukele intensified his anti-gang campaign in 2022, reaching over 110,000 in March 2024, according to Cristosal. The government’s own figures reported only 36,000 inmates in April 2021. Bukele’s Justice Minister has stated that those imprisoned in CECOT will never be released back into their communities.

The use of the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked wartime power, has raised significant legal and ethical questions regarding the due process rights of the deportees. The agreement highlights the growing tension between U.S. immigration policy and the human rights concerns surrounding El Salvador’s increasingly authoritarian approach to crime.

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