El Salvador Contradicts Trump, Says It Has No Authority Over Migrants Held in Megaprison

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The trump DOJ lied in numerous filings

Link to tweet

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/el-salvador-contradicts-trump-no-authority-venezuelans-alien-enemies-act-cecot/

El Salvador told the United Nations that it has no legal authority over hundreds of Venezuelan men that President Donald Trump sent to a Salvadoran megaprison earlier this year.

Over 200 men were removed from the U.S. without due process in March and were transferred to the notorious Salvadoran terrorism prison CECOT shortly after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), a rarely used wartime law.

El Salvador’s account of which country has legal authority over the men contradicts what the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed in public and in courts.

Trump officials, including the president, have said for months that they cannot return any of the men sent to CECOT and other Salvadoran prisons because they are under the legal authority of El Salvador.

The government has used these claims in arguments for why it has not complied with court orders requiring it to return some of the men.

El Salvador made the disclosure in response to an inquiry from a United Nations working group that helps families in determining the fate or whereabouts of family members who have reportedly been disappeared by governments.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. El Salvador told the UN that "the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the U.S.

The trump DOJ lied in a number of flings

BREAKING: Documents filed in court today assert that officials from El Salvador told the United Nations that it "facilitated the use of the Salvadoran prison infrastructure" by the U.S. but that "the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively with the" U.S.

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) 2025-07-07T19:54:15.743Z

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. UN report in which El Salvador claimed the "jurisdiction and legal responsibility" for those detainees lies w/ the U.S.

This will piss off some judges who were lied to by the trump DOJ

Link to tweet

[Norrrm]

3. For America, CECOT is just Rent-a-Cell, except for President Nayib Bukele's personal MS13 friends.

[stopdiggin]

4. both sides lying through their teeth

the 'no jurisdiction' argument is ludicrous - coming from either direction.

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[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. The trump DOJ lied to a couple of different courts about the ability of the US to return detainees. Three or four month

The trump DOJ lied to a couple of different courts about the ability of the US to return detainees. Three or four months ago, El Salvador made a filing with the United Nations stating that the US retains jurisdiction over all detainees/deportees. Now a court wants to find out if the trump DOJ lied to the court
Attorneys representing a group of detainees at CECOT filed a UN report in which El Salvador said the U.S. still has legal responsiblity for deported migrants.

Link to tweet

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/dmv-immigration/judge-demands-answers-from-trump-administration-after-el-salvador-says-us-still-holds-jurisdiction-over-deported-migrants-cristian-abrego-garcia/65-a8b40c5f-3464-4972-a588-67872e8da43e

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Maryland overseeing the case of “Cristian,” a Venezuelan asylum seeker wrongfully deported to El Salvador, has given the Trump administration a week to explain why a newly discovered United Nations report appears to contradict statements they’ve made in her courtroom.

In a letter to counsel Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher said a report from the UN’s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances appeared to directly cut against claims by the Justice Department that the U.S. has no control over the group of immigration detainees sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison earlier this year. Gallagher took judicial notice of the report, which was filed Monday in a separate case in federal court in D.C. involving a challenge to President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to order immediate deportations of a group of alleged Venezuelan gang members.

The report details the Salvadoran government’s responses to Venezuelan families seeking information about loved ones who were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador. In it, the Salvadoran government disclaims any legal responsibility for the detainees and says they remain under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government:

“The actions of the State of El Salvador have been limited to the implementation of a bilateral cooperation mechanism with another State, through which it has facilitated the use of the Salvadoran prison infrastructure for the custody of persons detained within the scope of the justice system and law enforcement of that other State. 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.”

The report details the Salvadoran government’s responses to Venezuelan families seeking information about loved ones who were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador. In it, the Salvadoran government disclaims any legal responsibility for the detainees and says they remain under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government:

“The actions of the State of El Salvador have been limited to the implementation of a bilateral cooperation mechanism with another State, through which it has facilitated the use of the Salvadoran prison infrastructure for the custody of persons detained within the scope of the justice system and law enforcement of that other State. 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.”

Gallagher wrote that if El Salvador told the truth to the UN, no diplomatic discussions should be required to bring Cristian back to the U.S. She ordered the DOJ to explain its position that diplomatic discussions are required to return Cristian no later than next Tuesday.

[Solly Mack]

5. ...

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Rachel had an ACLU lawyer on discussing this filing

The trump admin had this filing for 3 or 4 months

[struggle4progress]

7. "We just do whatever they pay us to do"

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. El Salvador kneecapped Trump's claim over deported migrants: 'Not been honest'

The trump DOJ has lied to a good number of judges

President Donald Trump's administration controls the fate of migrants it has deported to other countries like El Salvador, officials claimed in a court filing on Monday.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2025-07-08T01:00:16.943Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-deportations-2672870359/

President Donald Trump's administration controls the fate of migrants it has deported to other countries like El Salvador, officials claimed in a court filing on Monday.

The claims contradict the Trump administration's position that it has no authority to return the migrants once they've been sent elsewhere. That was the argument they used to try and circumvent a court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador's infamous CECOT prison to the United States.

Salvadoran officials pushed back on those claims in a new court filing, saying that "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."

Said another way: The Trump administration "is in charge" of the migrants even after they cross U.S. borders, Lee Gelernt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Washington Post.

Trump has deported immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, a centuries-old law that allows the president to immediately deport people during wartime. In past media appearances, Trump has described illegal immigration in the United States as an invasion, although he has not officially filed a declaration of war against any country.

The Supreme Court has also said that the Trump administration needs to allow immigrants who are being deported sufficient time to challenge the claims made against them.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. Rachel and the ACLU attorney did a great job of discussing this last night

Link to tweet

#BREAKING: Legendary #Maddow: "The Trump admin has sent hundreds of other people to that prison in El Salvador, and the admin keeps insisting in court that it has NO CONTROL over any of the men who are being held there...but today, a major development happened on that front. In a new filing in federal court in Washington, the country of El Salvador has apparently contradicted Trump admin...the filing says 'the govt of El Salvador recently told the United Nations that it bears NO legal responsibility for the men'..."😳

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. Judge Gallagher says either El Salvador is lying to the UN or the trump DOJ is lying about the people deported

A judge is mad about being lied to by the trump DOJ

JUST IN: Judge Gallagher says either El Salvador is lying to the UN or the administration is lying to her about the people deported to CECOT.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) 2025-07-08T18:35:00.823Z