LEGAL FICTION

90% of ‘Worst of the Worst’ Migrants Sent to Mega Prison Had No U.S. Criminal Record

For the vast majority of deportees there was no information showing they committed any serious crimes in the U.S.

Just a handful of the 238 migrants deported by the Trump administration to a mega prison in El Salvador actually have a criminal record, U.S. court records show—despite the White House’s insistence that they were dangerous criminals. President Donald Trump described the deportees—most of them Venezuelans—as a “bad group, when you look at the crimes they’ve committed.” But for 228 of them, there was no available information showing they committed any serious crimes in the U.S., according to Bloomberg. The migrants were deported without due process after Trump on March 15 invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798—a rarely used wartime law—alleging an “invasion” by members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. Despite the Trump administration’s claims of thorough vetting, press reports and legal filings have revealed that many deportees were judged to be gang-affiliated based on their tattoos and clothing. The administration has admitted to mistakenly deporting a father who had been granted legal refugee status, but have refused to bring him home. In a Monday ruling, the Supreme Court overturned a federal judge’s order that had temporarily halted the deportations under the Alien Enemies Act—but said detainees must be given notice and an opportunity to argue their case before a judge.

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Erkki ForsterNight News Reporter

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