Overview
- The updated segment aired Sunday with a new introduction and postscript that read written statements from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, but no Trump administration official appeared on camera.
- Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi’s report examined U.S. deportations of roughly 252 Venezuelan men to El Salvador’s CECOT prison and featured accounts describing conditions as brutal and torturous.
- Alfonsi said DHS declined to provide complete criminal-background records for the deported men, citing national security, and 60 Minutes instead cited ICE data showing 33 U.S. convictions, including eight for violent or potentially violent crimes, with roughly 70 additional pending charges.
- The on‑air postscript disclosed that DHS provided a photo of a detainee’s swastika tattoo; five gang experts told 60 Minutes that such tattoos, including “666,” are not linked to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, and the detainee denied gang affiliation.
- The piece had been pulled hours before a Dec. 21 airing, later leaked via Canada’s Global TV app, and its delay fueled internal dissent and public questions over CBS News leadership and editorial independence under Bari Weiss.