Sent to ‘torture prison’ by Trump – now they are free

Alex Woodward reports on the chaotic deportation scheme that sent Venezuelans to the CECOT mega jail in El Salvador

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Dozens of Venezuelan men, locked up in immigration detention centres in the United States, were abruptly flown to El Salvador in the middle of the night, shackled and gang-walked to a brutal maximum-security prison, heads shaved, and stuffed into jail cells where they lived for more than five months.

They weren’t allowed to speak with families or lawyers. They never stepped foot outside.

Now, after finally being returned last week to Venezuela by Donald Trump’s administration, they reveal traumatising ordeals and adjust to the whiplash of arriving back in a country where many still face significant threats.

In a remarkable change in the US position, Trump officials have “obtained assurances” from Venezuela that the men will be returned to the US to continue their immigration proceedings – marking a chaotic full circle that could land them right back in the American detention centres from where they were deported.

Last week’s prisoner exchange appeared to mark the end of a months-long legal battle, challenging the president’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport dozens of alleged members of Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua gang. Trump officials had labelled these men “worst of the worst” criminals, and “alien enemies”, who committed “warfare” on US soil.

Yet the swap has set them free in Venezuela, where president Nicolas Maduro’s regime is threatening to expose conditions inside El Salvador’s notorious jail. And the Trump administration could be forced to return many of those men to the US, with Venezuela's help.

The Department of Justice declined to comment.