A team of lawyers representing the families of 30 Venezuelans sent by the United States to a mega prison in El Salvador asked the Salvadoran Supreme Court of Justice on Monday to evaluate the legality of their detention. <\/p>\n
One of the attorneys, Jaime Ortega, said they were hired by the government of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro to file an appeal before the Constitutional Chamber of the Salvadoran Supreme Court, which would also apply to the rest of the 238 Venezuelans deported on the orders of US President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are asking the court to review their legal status and issue a ruling. If their detention is illegal, it should immediately order their release,\u201d Ortega told reporters. <\/p>\n
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said last week that the US sent 238 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, though he didn\u2019t identify them or provide evidence for that claim. El Salvador agreed to take them in and lock them up at its Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), considered the largest prison in Latin America. US authorities have acknowledged that not all deportees had criminal records. <\/p>\n
The Trump administration said 137 of those migrants were deported under the Alien Enemies Act. Use of the act, previously used only in wartime, under these circumstances is currently under judicial scrutiny in the US. <\/p>\n
The lawyers in El Salvador said that if this is an immigration matter, they hope the Salvadoran Supreme Court will order that the Venezuelans be sent back to their countries. <\/p>\n
The judges have no set deadline to resolve the appeal. <\/p>\n
Juan Pappier, Americas Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, cautioned that it was \u201cunrealistic\u201d to expect the court to go against the Bukele administration. <\/p>\n
\u201cI understand (the families\u2019) desperation and I think they should use whatever avenue they can find available,\u201d Pappier said. <\/p>\n
Pappier argued that these types of deportations violate UN principles that forbid countries from transferring individuals to a place \u201cwhere they can risk facing torture and other grave human rights violations.\u201d <\/p>\n
The National Commission on Human Rights and Freedom of Expression, a Salvadoran government agency, said families of Venezuelan deportees held in Cecot could petition the Salvadoran government for their release. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will process each case and carry out the corresponding verifications,\u201d presidential commissioner Andr\u00e9s Guzm\u00e1n said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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