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El Salvador Tells UN That U.S. Controls Venezuelan Migrants at CECOT Prison

This revelation undermines the administration’s claim to lack authority over the detainees, bolstering petitions seeking their repatriation.

Minister of Justice and Public Security Héctor Villatoro, (R), accompanies Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, (C), during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) on March 26, 2025, in Tecoluca, El Salvador.
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Jennifer Vasquez Sura, center, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, arrives at the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md., Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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.