For decades, the U.S. has been regarded by most of the world as a haven for persecuted and oppressed individuals. While discussing refugees’ status in the U.S. is controversial, people from other countries have successfully made use of legal pathways to gain asylum in the U.S. Two pathways are the humanitarian parole program and the Temporary Protected Status program. Both programs were repealed by President Donald Trump shortly before he sent 238 Venezuelan migrants to the Salvadoran mega prison CECOT, the terrorist confinement center, without any form of due process. Incarcerating legal residents of the U.S. in Salvadoran mega prisons is a concerning misuse of executive power by the current administration.
The Trump administration used the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deny migrants due process to establish a legal basis regarding their deportation. This law grants the president the ability to detain or deport non-U.S. citizens who have been classified as threats to the U.S. However, this law is only meant to be used during an active war between the U.S. and another country or in the event of an invasion. The administration’s overreach of authority is exacerbated by the fact that most of the migrants deported were not gang members. Given that neither of the necessary conditions were met to invoke this act, there is no doubt that the Trump administration overstepped its legal power.
The main features of the TPS program are work authorization and protection against deportation from the country. Although the program was set to be terminated in April, it was extended until Oct. 2 for Venezuelan citizens by a U.S. district court. The fact that TPS is still in effect despite the deportation of the Venezuelan migrants highlights another disturbing violation of U.S. legislation.
The pretense for the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport the migrants was that they were gang members. The only evidence of their gang affiliation is their possession of tattoos featuring crowns, despite them not explicitly being gang tattoos. This pretense is further shown to be superficial because the individuals eligible for the TPS program do not have any criminal history.
The haphazard deportation resulted in innocent people like Kilmar Abrego Garcia and José Hernández Romero being incarcerated in extremely poor conditions.
In response to fears of gang violence, Garcia fled El Salvador years ago. Still, he was sent to the CECOT mega prison due to an administrative error by the Trump administration. Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that he must be repatriated, the Trump administration claims “sovereign authority” and a lack of cooperation from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele are the barriers preventing this from happening.
Romero is a gay man who fled persecution in Venezuela by entering the U.S. as an asylum seeker; he was deported to CECOT over his misinterpreted tattoos, which symbolize the three kings present at the birth of Jesus. Regardless of this mistake, the federal government has taken no definitive action to return him to the U.S.
This explicit overreach of authority is deeply concerning because it sets the precedent that, despite legal presence in the country, a non-citizen can still be deported to a foreign prison well known for its poor conditions and human-rights abuses. If there are no repercussions for the irresponsible actions taken by the current administration, there is no guarantee that this will not happen again on a larger scale.
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