US prepares to deport about 300 alleged gang members

Washington: President Donald Trump’s administration will pay El Salvador USD 6 million to imprison for one year about 300 alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, in one of the first instances of the Central American country taking migrants from the United States.

The agreement follows discussions between El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio about housing migrants in El Salvador’s notorious prison.

Bukele’s government has arrested more than 84,000 people, sometimes without due process, since 2022 as part of his crackdown on gang violence in the small country.

It came as the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward preemptively sued Trump late Friday in federal court in Washington, DC, saying five Venezuelan men being held at an immigration detention centre in Raymondville, Texas, were at “imminent risk of removal” under the Alien Enemies Act.

A US judge halted deportations under Trump’s order for two weeks. El Salvador agreed to house 300 alleged gang members for a year, costing USD 20,000 each. Trump designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist group, though evidence remains limited. Venezuela resists taking back

deported migrants.