Judge Rules Trump Must Return Men Deported to El Salvador Mega-Prison
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of over 100 Venezuelan men it sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador last year. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg issued the ruling Thursday, giving the government one month to begin the process, noting that the men did not receive proper notice, due process, or a court hearing. Boasberg also said that the men would be able to petition for their return to the U.S. from overseas. “Against this backdrop, and 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,” Boasberg wrote.If the government still has any of the men’s passports and identification documents, it has to return them, Boasberg added If they transferred those documents to El Salvador, “it shall make good faith efforts to obtain” them. The Trump administration will also be required to cover the air travel costs for any of the men sent to third countries who wish to return to the U.S.The Trump administration has been fighting in court over the Venezuelans it sent to the brutal CECOT prison for nearly a year. The most famous case has been that of Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose imprisonment was overturned in federal court and upheld by the Supreme Court. The government still resisted returning him to the U.S., but nearly three months after he was sent to El Salvador, it finally brought him back home where he awaits a final decision on his status. Others, including people deported for merely having tattoos deliberately misconstrued as gang symbols, haven’t been so lucky, languishing in a prison well-known for human rights abuses as part of a $6 million deal with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Now, if this ruling holds up, they will get some measure of relief from a merciless deportation policy.