El Salvador Says the U.S. Has Jurisdiction Over Migrants in CECOT—Which Totally Undermines Trump’s Court Argument
New documents are devastating the Trump administration’s claims about migrants sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). In response to the United Nations, El Salvador asserts that the United States has exclusive jurisdiction over migrants in CECOT. El Salvador’s report is undercutting the Trump administration’s claims that El Salvador is responsible for the migrants. The Trump administration has claimed they were unable to bring wrongfully deported people back to the U.S. The revelation could be disastrous for the Trump administration’s legal battles.
El Salvador is not taking responsibility for migrants sent to CECOT
El Salvador’s government denies responsibility for the migrants sent to CECOT. The Central American government responded to an investigation from the United Nations asking for clarification on the deal. In response, the government of El Salvador placed full responsibility for the migrants on the United States. El Salvador solely claims that they are just providing the infrastructure as part of an international deal.
“In this context, the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the competent foreign authorities, by virtue of international agreements signed and in accordance with the principles of sovereignty and international cooperation in criminal matters,” El Salvador officials told the U.N. in a report, according to ABC News.
The United Nations Office of The High Commissioner for Human Rights Working Group launched an investigation into four missing Venezuelan migrants. The working group believes the U.S. sent the migrants to El Salvador in March. The Trump administration deported over 200 migrants using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The deportation of the migrants immediately faced legal challenges for denying them due process. The U.S. Constitution guarantees due process for all people.
The revelation contradicts the Trump administration’s months-long claims
The Trump administration has been facing a lengthy legal battle after deporting a large group of migrants in March. The legal battle intensified when a judge ordered the migrants returned to have due process. The federal government ignored the order. President Donald Trump and other federal officials claimed there was nothing they could do to bring the migrants back. El Salvador’s report to the U.N. directly undermines the argument the Trump administration has used for months.
“El Salvador has confirmed what we and everyone else understood: it is the United States that controls what happens to the Venezuelans languishing at CECOT. Remarkably the U.S. government didn’t provide this information to us or the court,” American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt told NPR.
Now, a federal judge in Maryland that is overseeing a case of “Cristian,” a wrongfully deported migrant wants answers. The new report submitted to the U.N. prompted U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher to demand an explanation from the Trump administration.
“Defendants have repeatedly skirted this Court’s directive to provide information regarding the steps they have taken and will take to facilitate the return of Cristian to the United States,” Gallagher wrote, according to WUSA9.
The Trump administration has not made any public comments about the report filed with the U.N. Attorneys for migrants who were wrongfully deported are using the report to push their legal challenges against the Trump administration forward. El Salvador’s assertion of the U.S. maintaining exclusive jurisdiction over the migrants comes as calls for the Epstein List to be released continue to grow. It seems like a rough week for the Trump administration as things pile up and people demand more accountability.
