U.S. authorities deport more Venezuelans to El Salvador

A US airforce plane touched down in El Salvador with 17 Venezuelans accused of being gang members.

Their deportation took place despite a judicial order temporarily blocking the US government from deporting people to countries other than their own without first being allowed to plead for their safety.

The Trump administration is arguing in a federal court that it was justified in sending the Venezuelans to El Salvador.

Activists say officials have sent them to a prison rife with human rights abuses while presenting little evidence that the deportees are gang members.

The Venezuelans were removed from the U.S. in March after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law gives the president wartime powers and allows noncitizens to be deported without due process.

A central outstanding question about the deportees’ status is when and how they could ever be released from the prison as they are not serving sentences.