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Judge Orders Trump Administration to Outline Return or Hearing Plan for Venezuelans Sent to El Salvador Prison

The court found 137 men were denied due process when the administration used the Alien Enemies Act to send them to CECOT.

Buses transporting migrants to board the the first deportation flight of undocumented Venezuelans after a US-Venezuelan agreement are seen as another deportation plane headed to Central America is seen flying above them in Harlingen, Texas, on October 18, 2023. The United States said on October 5, 2023 it will resume deportation flights to Venezuela after a deal with Caracas, as President Joe Biden, seeking reelection, comes under pressure to halt border crossings. Washington has for years halted sending migrants back to Venezuela due to instability in the South American nation and still maintains sanctions against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. (Photo by VERONICA G. CARDENAS / AFP) (Photo by VERONICA G. CARDENAS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Overview

  • U.S. District Judge James Boasberg gave the government until Jan. 5, 2026, to file a plan that either facilitates the men’s return to the United States or provides hearings that satisfy due‑process requirements, which could occur without return.
  • The ruling covers a certified class of 137 Venezuelan men, a subset of more than 200 migrants deported in March under the Alien Enemies Act.
  • Boasberg concluded the men remained in U.S. legal custody because El Salvador held them at the United States’ behest and the administration funded their detention at CECOT.
  • A separate appellate order has temporarily stayed contempt proceedings Boasberg initiated over flights that went forward despite his earlier instruction to turn them back.
  • All of the men held at CECOT were sent back to Venezuela in a July prisoner swap, and recent reports by Human Rights Watch and Cristosal detail beatings and other abuse at the prison.