The Department of Homeland Security carried out more deportations of migrants to El Salvador on Sunday night, ousting members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs whom the government identified as “violent criminals.”
The State Department said 17 people were sent via U.S. military transport to El Salvador. Among them were “murderers and rapists,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“These criminals will no longer terrorize our communities and citizens,” Mr. Rubio said.
The government did not reveal the nationalities of the 17 migrants or the authority used for the deportations.
President Trump has declared both MS-13 and Tren de Aragua to be foreign terrorist organizations and has used the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed deportations outside of the usual immigration system.
Two weeks before Sunday’s deportations he sent three planeloads of migrants, mostly Venezuelan TdA members, to El Salvador, challenging the orders of a federal judge who had told the administration to ground the planes. The government has said some of those were removed via the Alien Enemies Act, while others were ousted as normal deportees through the regular immigration system.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has ordered future removals under the Alien Enemies Act halted, and is investigating the removals.
Meanwhile, another federal judge in Massachusetts ordered a halt to migrants being sent to third countries, such as Venezuelans sent to El Salvador, without prior notice and being a chance to contest the deportation over concerns they could be persecuted or tortured.
Following that judge’s ruling, Homeland Security issued a new policy Sunday, saying it has added a new safeguard to deportations that requires the government to get assurances from the destination countries that deportees won’t be tortured or persecuted.
If the State Department certifies the assurances are “credible” then the deportation can go forward. Otherwise, the migrants will be notified of their new destination and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a part of Homeland Security, will reevaluate individual cases to make sure someone doesn’t face a risk of persecution or torture.
The Department of Justice said the new guidance undercuts the judge’s restraining order.
“The asserted facts on which this Court relied to issue the TRO (which Defendants dispute) are now demonstrably untrue and there is no longer any plausible reason for an injunctive order. Thus, there is no longer any basis for emergency relief in light of this new guidance,” Mary L. Larakers, the government’s lawyer, said in Sunday’s filing.
It wasn’t clear Monday how the new deportations squared with the judge’s order. Homeland Security didn’t respond to an inquiry for this story.
The deportations to El Salvador have quickly become a major test of Mr. Trump’s presidential powers.
Lawyers for the immigrants, arguing before Judge Boasberg, said in new filings over the weekend that the government is overselling the threat of TdA.
Rebecca Hanson, an assistant professor at the University of Florida, called it “a loose, disorganized group” and disputed the Trump claim that TdA operates under the purview of the Venezuelan government.
In a statement submitted to the court she said it’s relatively weak compared to other gangs, and has been further injured by a Venezuelan government crackdown in 2023.
She also questioned the government’s use of tattoos or social media posts with people making hand signals to help determine gang membership.
Ms. Hanson also mocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for posting on social media that it had arrested two TdA operatives who’d been in the U.S. since 2003. She said that was “illogical” given that the gang didn’t form until 2014.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.