Overview

• El Salvador’s report to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner states that U.S. authorities bear sole jurisdiction over Venezuelan men held at CECOT prison.
• The admission contradicts Trump administration claims that these detainees were beyond U.S. legal reach and deprived of constitutional protections.
• Migrants’ attorneys have used the disclosure to demand discovery of the secret $6 million deal under the Alien Enemies Act that funded their detention.
• Federal courts had already enjoined further AEA-based deportations and ordered the return of individuals wrongfully sent to CECOT, including Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
• Rights groups continue to decry overcrowding and abuse at CECOT while challenging the constitutionality of outsourcing U.S. detentions abroad.