Federal judge orders return of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador under Alien Enemies Act

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return to the U.S. of a group of Venezuelan migrants who were sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador last year under the Alien Enemies Act and accused of being members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua.

The 137 Venezuelans the ruling applies to were deported to the notorious Center for Terrorism Confinement, or CECOT, in the Central American country, under the rarely-used Alien Enemies Act, despite an emergency ruling ordering the flight to be returned to the U.S.

The men were later sent to their home countries as part of a prisoner exchange. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled the government must pay to fly back or accept at a US port of entry any of the men who are now in countries other than Venezuela. They’re likely to be detained upon arrival as they fight accusations they are members of Tren de Aragua. Those still in Venezuela, can challenge their deportation from that country, and will not be allowed for now to come to the U.S.

Boasberg ruled late last year that the men had been denied due process, and he gave the U.S. government the chance to “propose steps” that would ensure the men had hearings on their habeas corpus claims, and challenge their designation under the Alien Enemies Act.

“Apparently not interested in participating in this process, the Government’s

responses essentially told the Court to pound sand,” Boasberg wrote in Thursday’s ruling. “Mindful of the flagrancy of the Government’s violations of the deportees’ due-process rights that landed Plaintiffs in this situation, the Court refuses to let them languish in the solution-less mire Defendants propose.”

It’s unclear how many of the men will want to proceed with their habeas claims, or how many of them are still in Venezuela, Boasberg said.

In a statement to NPR, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin doubled down on the government’s accusations that the men were terrorists. She said they were “removed under the proper legal authorities.”

“This case is no longer about the facts or law, but about Judge Boasberg’s crusade to stop President Trump from doing the will of the American People,” McLaughlin said.

The Trump administration has constantly clashed with Boasberg over his rulings. Trump called for Boasberg’s impeachment last year, a move that prompted the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, to issue a rare statement saying impeachment is not appropriate over judicial disagreements.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the ACLU representing the men, told NPR in a statement today “the Trump administration sent these men to a brutal torture prison and did so without due process… the Court was left with no choice but to order that the men now receive their constitutional right to defend themselves.”

Boasberg ordered the plaintiffs to submit a list within 15 days of individuals who wish to return to the U.S.