Texas Detainees Send Call for Help to Outside World with Human Chain Spelling ‘SOS’
Detainees at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, sent a message to the outside world. A drone captured video of migrants at the detention center making a human chain to spell out “SOS”. Social media users around the world are watching the video. The detainees fear a deportation to El Salvador. The Trump administration has sent more than 100 people to the notorious megaprison in San Salvador against court rulings.
Migrant detainees at the Bluebonnet Detention Center want the world to see them
A video showing detainees in Texas calling for help from within the Bluebonnet Detention Center is going viral. The migrants spelled out “SOS” as a Reuters drone flew overhead. The video is capturing everyone’s attention at a time when the Trump administration is in court fighting to push its deportation plans forward.
The 31 men fear the Trump administration sending them to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. The Central American prison houses dangerous gang members and, now, deportees from the United States.
President Nayib Bukele offered and has followed through with accepting deportees from the U.S. One person caught up in the deportations to CECOT is Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Maryland father has been in El Salvador since March. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) admitted that his deportation was an “administrative error.”
The detainees at the Bluebonnet Detention Center are valid in their fear. On April 18, 2025, immigration officials drove the detainees to the Abilene Regional Airport for a rushed deportation. They were slated to be deported to CECOT but a last minute court decision spared them. Also on April 18, 2025, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Family members are pushing back against the Tren de Aragua narrative
The Trump administration has been leaning on the 18th century wartime law to swiftly deport people. So far, more than 130 people are believed to be at CECOT due to the administration’s use of the law.
Family members identified their loved ones in the detention center after seeing photos provided by Reuters. They are pushing back against the narrative that the detainees are part of the infamous Tren de Aragua gang. The Venezuelan gang is the current Department of Homeland Security’s example of perceived dangers in the U.S.
Advocates and attorneys are demanding due process for all people detained
The haphazard deportations sparked a list of ongoing legal challenges against the administration. Attorneys for some of those detained are raising concern over the blatant lack of due process. The Trump administration has hid behind the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as an excuse to conduct the mass deportations.
Even conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has called on the Trump administration to follow Supreme Court orders and due process. The lack of due process is a dangerous precedent for deportations and arrests in the U.S.
The Constitution guarantees that all people within the jurisdiction of the U.S. are granted due process when arrested. The actions by the Trump administration are raising questions of a potential constitutional crisis.
