More than 250 Venezuelan migrants who were sent to El Salvador’s high-security counterterrorism prison, CECOT, by the United States government have been flown back to Venezuela. Their return on Friday, July 18, came as part of a diplomatic prisoner swap: in exchange, the Maduro government released ten U.S. citizens it had been holding.
Prisoner swap sends Venezuelans home, frees 10 Americans
Their release is the result of a deal between El Salvador and Venezuela, with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele confirming the detainees were accused of having links to the Tren de Aragua gang. Bukele did not clarify whether the Venezuelans would face prison time once they return home.
“As was offered to the Venezuelan regime back in April, we carried out this exchange in return for a considerable number of Venezuelan political prisoners, people that regime had kept in its prisons for years, as well as all the American citizens it was holding as hostages,” he wrote in a post on X.
State Department coordinates exchange behind the scenes
The U.S. State Department helped coordinate the exchange behind the scenes. Venezuelan detainees were loaded onto buses and taken from CECOT to El Salvador’s main airport early Friday, July 18, where a flight was waiting to take them home. Meanwhile, a U.S. government jet carrying diplomats and medical teams lifted off from a Georgia airfield and headed for Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked his team and El Salvador’s president for their help in securing the deal. He also credited U.S. President Donald Trump for his leadership throughout the process.
“Until today, more Americans were wrongfully held in Venezuela than any other country in the world. It is unacceptable that Venezuelan regime representatives arrested and jailed U.S. nationals under highly questionable circumstances and without proper due process,” Rubio said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro called July 18 “a day of blessings and good news for Venezuela,” according to the Associated Press. He made allegations that some of those held at the Salvadoran prison were abused and beaten.
The United States, along with several other countries, does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate leader, with the State Department saying he “fraudulently declared himself the victor” in Venezuela’s July 2024 presidential election, despite evidence to the contrary.”
Wartime law used to justify mass deportations
The Trump administration labeled the Tren de Aragua gang a foreign threat. The administration used that designation to help fast-track the removal of migrants believed to be connected to the group. The Venezuelans held at CECOT were deported in March under a wartime law dating back to 1798 known as the Alien Enemies Act.
Families and advocates push back on gang claims
Immigrant advocates and relatives of the deported Venezuelans pushed back on allegations they are affiliated with a gang, saying their loved ones had no known ties to Tren de Aragua. Many pointed out that those deported had no criminal records and were removed without clear evidence linking them to any gang activity.
Court documents and advocates have said some of the people sent to El Salvador had been living legally in the U.S., including Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego García. He was among 23 Salvadorans deported earlier this year. Even after a federal judge ordered that he be returned to the U.S., the Trump administration claimed their hands were tied, arguing that once the group was in El Salvador’s custody, it was no longer up to them.
Abrego Garcia was eventually flown back to the U.S. last month, but is now facing federal charges for allegedly smuggling migrants. Meanwhile, lawyers representing over 140 Venezuelans still challenging their deportation say El Salvador admitted in court that the U.S. holds legal responsibility for those individuals, not them.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the Venezuelan detainees were not given due process or the opportunity to challenge the allegations against them in court. According to NBC News, the organization said it was not notified in advance of the transfer and raised concerns about the ongoing legal process.
