Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 16 that the Trump administration had sent more than 250 Venezuelans accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang to a prison in El Salvador amid an active federal court ruling ordering the deportation flights to cease.
Rubio said El Salvador has agreed to hold the gang members “in their very good jails at a fair price that will also save ... taxpayer dollars,” in a statement posted on social media platform X.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted a video to X on March 16 showing agents leading men in handcuffs off a plane at night and into a prison. Prison officials are also shown shaving the prisoners’ heads.
“The United States will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us,” Bukele wrote.
He said the prisoners were immediately transferred to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center.
On March 15, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to hasten the deportation of accused members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The administration agreed to pay El Salvador $6 million to hold roughly 300 alleged members of the gang, as well as two alleged members of the MS-13 gang, in its prisons for a year.
The United States has designated both gangs as terrorist organizations.
The agreement for El Salvador to take the prisoners was made during Rubio’s first diplomatic mission to the nation.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement on March 16 regarding the deportation flights.
“This weekend, at the President’s direction, the Department of Homeland Security successfully arrested nearly 300 Tren De Aragua terrorists, saving countless American lives,” she said. “Thanks to the great work of the Department of State, these heinous monsters were extracted and removed to El Salvador where they will no longer be able to pose any threat to the American People.”
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, at the San Oscar Arnulfo Romero international airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters
Hours before Trump signed the proclamation, lawyers for five of the Venezuelan detainees being held for deportation from the United States filed a lawsuit to block the flights. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia responded with an order barring the deportation of those five plaintiffs for at least two weeks to allow legal proceedings to continue.
The plaintiffs argued that the Alien Enemies Act “plainly only applies to warlike actions.”
Boasberg issued a second order on the evening of March 15, giving all noncitizens who would otherwise be subject to the presidential proclamation a class action certification.
Salvadoran police officers cut the hair of alleged members of the Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters
Attorney General Pam Bondi filed an emergency motion on Sunday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to pause Boasberg’s order.
“This Court should halt this massive, unauthorized imposition on the Executive’s authority to remove people that Defendants had determined to be members of [Tren de Aragua], a group the President and the Secretary of State have found to be a threat to national security,” she wrote.
It is not clear whether the deportation flight occurred before or after the court order. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
The judge also ordered that any deportation flights that were already airborne turn around.
After the flight, Bukele posted a message saying, “Oopsie ... Too late,” along with a screenshot of a New York Post article announcing the court orders.
Venezuela on Sunday criticized the U.S. implementation of the Alien Enemies Act.
“Venezuela rejects the application of an anachronistic law, illegal and in violation of human rights, against our migrants,” Venezuela’s government said in a statement, adding its “profound indignation at the threat of kidnapping 14-year-old children.”
Venezuela’s government called on the international community, especially the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, to mobilize against what it called a “dangerous precedent” against the entire region.
T.J. Muscaro, Ryan Morgan, and Reuters contributed to this report.
Jacob Burg
Author
Jacob Burg reports on national politics, aerospace, and aviation for The Epoch Times. He previously covered sports, regional politics, and breaking news for the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
