El Salvador’s government has asserted that over 200 migrants sent to its CECOT mega-prison, accused of being involved with violent criminal gangs, are under the jurisdiction of the United States.
This revelation was part of a report submitted to a United Nations working group investigating human rights issues related to the treatment of migrants.
El Salvador’s position marks a significant contradiction to the assertions made by President Donald Trump and his administration, which have long claimed they cannot repatriate the migrants because they fall under El Salvador’s authority.
In the court filing, El Salvador emphasized that the legal responsibility for these individuals rests solely with the foreign authorities involved, citing international agreements and principles of sovereign law.
‘In this context, the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the competent foreign authorities, by virtue of international agreements signed and in accordance with the principles of sovereignty and international cooperation in criminal matters,’ El Salvador stated in its communication to the U.N.
The report was part of an investigation into the alleged disappearances of four Venezuelan men believed to have been sent to El Salvador earlier in March.
Despite the claims made by El Salvador, the Trump administration has yet to publicly release a comprehensive list documenting the migrants sent to the CECOT.
In its filing, the Salvadoran government asserted, ‘The Salvadoran State emphatically states that its authorities have not arrested, detained, or transferred the persons referred to in the communications of the Working Group.’
They elaborated that their actions have been confined to facilitating a bilateral cooperation mechanism with the United States, which allowed the use of Salvadoran prison facilities to detain individuals related to that country’s justice and law enforcement processes.
In a controversial move, the Trump administration utilized the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century authority enabling the removal of noncitizens with minimal due process, to deport two flights worth of alleged migrant gang members to El Salvador.
This action was justified by linking the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, to what the administration termed a ‘hybrid criminal state’ instigating an incursion into the United States.
The migrants’ transfer was part of a significant $6 million arrangement between the Trump administration and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele that intended to use Salvadoran infrastructure for housing migrant detainees amid tougher immigration policies.
Attorneys from the ACLU, representing the parties involved in challenging these removals, became aware of the information recently through relatives of those detained.
They indicate that the U.S. government has shown a lack of transparency, failing to disclose important documents regarding its arrangement with El Salvador, even after prior requests from the ACLU.
‘The government of El Salvador has confirmed what everyone already knew: the United States controls the fate of the Venezuelans sent to CECOT without due process,’ stated Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney, in light of the U.N. findings.
He added, ‘Unbelievably, the U.S. government didn’t provide this information to us or the court.’
As of now, ABC News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for further comment on this matter.
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