Two planeloads of alleged Venezuelan gang members deported to El Salvador last week included eight female detainees who were later sent back to the United States, according to sworn declarations filed Monday.
A Venezuelan woman identified as S.Z.F.R. stated in a sworn declaration that she was transferred to a detention center in El Paso, Texas, before being placed on a flight to El Salvador last Saturday along with seven other Venezuelan women.
“I asked where we were going and we were told that we were going to Venezuela,” S.Z.F.R. recounted in her statement. “Several other people on the plane told me they were in immigration proceedings and awaiting court hearings in immigration court.”
The woman described the conditions during the flight, stating that all detainees, including the women, were “arm and leg shackled” throughout the journey, even when the plane made a stop for refueling in another country.
According to S.Z.F.R., officials onboard asked the detained men to sign documents against their will. “The government officials were pushing them to sign the documents and threatening them,” she said. “I heard them discussing the documents, and they were about the men admitting they were members of TdA,” referring to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang whose criminal activity led President Donald Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act for expedited deportations.
During a Monday hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, an attorney for the ACLU, Lee Gelernt, stated that the organization intends to submit the signed documents to a district court. “We will put into the district court the piece of paper that individuals are getting that specifically says, ‘You’re not entitled to review,'” Gelernt said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not yet provided a response to requests for comment from ABC News regarding the situation.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a restraining order last Saturday to temporarily halt such deportations, prompting the Justice Department to challenge the ruling before the appellate court.
A sworn declaration from an ICE official last week acknowledged that “many” of the noncitizens deported under the Alien Enemies Act did not have criminal records in the United States. However, administration officials have yet to clarify what evidence links the detainees to gang activity.
Upon arrival in El Salvador, the eight women remained on the plane while the men disembarked. “The remaining women asked, ‘What happens to us?'” S.Z.F.R. stated. “I was told that the president of El Salvador would not accept women. I was also told that we were going back to detention in the U.S.”
S.Z.F.R. was returned to the U.S. in the middle of the night.
In a separate sworn declaration, a Nicaraguan migrant confirmed that he, too, was returned to the U.S. after landing in El Salvador. “I overheard a Salvadoran official tell an ICE officer that the Salvadoran government would not detain someone from another Central American country because of the conflict it would cause,” the man stated.
The same official reportedly noted that El Salvador’s prison system was not set up to accommodate female detainees and that their inclusion had not been specified in the agreement.
The Nicaraguan migrant, whose name was not disclosed, described being forcibly removed from the plane for questioning. “Everyone was scared, and some people had to forcibly be removed from the plane,” he said.
The situation remains under legal scrutiny, with ongoing challenges against the deportations and concerns over due process rights for those deported under the Alien Enemies Act.
