Published : 17 Mar 2025, 01:07 AM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 12:43 PM
The United States has removed hundreds of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua using now-blocked authority from the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday.
"Hundreds of violent criminals were sent out of our country," Rubio said in a statement.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said in a post on X that 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang had arrived in his country and were immediately transferred to a "Terrorism Confinement Centre" for a one-year period that could be renewed.
Bukele said the US had also sent 23 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, including two high-ranking members.
President Donald Trump on Friday invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal organisation that has been linked to kidnapping, extortion, organized crime and contract killings.
A federal judge on Saturday blocked the application of the law for 14 days, saying the statute refers to "hostile acts" perpetrated by another country that are "commensurate to war."
