Several migrants on a contested flight carrying Venezuelans who had been deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration said they had been deported to Salvador, according to a new court filing. To expel the country, President Donald Trump summoned 18th century wartime laws, which are now at the heart of the Hightakes’ legal battle.
One immigrant, a Venezuelan woman, said she and seven other women returned to the United States after the plane landed in El Salvador.
Nicaragua, the second immigrant, was one of the flights on March 15th, and then returned to the US. He said El Salvador had overshadowed Salvador officials telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities that “we would not detain anyone from another Central American country due to the conflict it causes.”
The declaration was filed with Judge James Boasberg, who is considering whether the Trump administration violated a March 15 court order to return a flight carrying Venezuelans who were deported under the Trump alien enemy declaration.
More Context: It was verbally that the two flights had taken off at the time Boasberg was issued, and the administration cited “serious national security, security, regulation and logical issues” in the judge’s order, suggesting that turning planes around to return immigrants is not feasible.
The immigration lawyer said the new declaration would “refute” the claim that Boasberg’s orders were logistically ineffective.
The Venezuelan woman’s declaration said she had overheard two government officials discussing the March 15 court order within “a few minutes” of her plane taking off from Laredo, Texas. One official, she said, “We can’t take off, but we have an order that we already have it.”
