The latest news on Venezuela and El Salvador. Trump's immigration policy is being stopped by judges in his own country, but for thousands of deportees under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, the setback comes too late. Many have already been separated for a long time (perhaps forever) from their families in the US, and it seems that the mechanisms for identifying migrants are now being called into question.
The issue comes as 252 Venezuelan migrants have been released from the Centro de Reclusión del Terrorismo (Cecot), President Bukele's maximum security mega-prison in El Salvador that he "rents" to the US government of Donald Trump. These migrants, despite being sent there without trial for alleged affiliation with a criminal cartel called Tren de Aragua, have subsequently been found innocent and have been bussed to Venezuela from the neighbouring country.
Some of them spoke to the BBC. "We have lived through hell", denouncing subhuman conditions in the prison and the total absence of basic human rights. "The prison director told us that whoever went in would never come out," said one of them, explaining how food was thrown on the floor and they were forced to eat in crowded conditions and with their hands directly in front of them. "Like animals", he added.
On Monday, Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, denounced the use of "systemic torture" at Cecot, which he said included sexual abuse, daily beatings and giving rotten food to inmates.
Saab announced that Venezuela will investigate President Bukele, as well as Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro and Prisons Director Osiris Luna Meza for the alleged abuses.