The Trump administration has deported 17 more alleged gang members to El Salvador, the US state department said Monday, despite legal battles over removing people to the Central American country’s supermax prison.
In a statement the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the deportees included members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs.
Salvadoran officials told the BBC that there was a mix of Venezuelans and Salvadorans in the group.
Earlier this month a court ordered a halt to deportations carried out under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that has only previously been used in wartime. It is unclear what law was used to deport the 17 people.
In a statement, Rubio said the group included “murderers and rapists” but did not provide names or details of the alleged crimes or of any convictions.
In a post on X, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele shared a dramatically edited video showing men being loaded off of a plane and into prison cells.
“All individuals are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists,” he wrote, again without providing names or details of the alleged crimes. “This operation is another step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.”
El Salvador has agreed to take in deportees in exchange for $6m (£4.62m).
Family members of some of those who were previously sent to the maximum security prison have denied that they have any gang ties.
After Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove more than 100 Venezuelans from the US earlier this month, groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward filed a legal challenge alleging the administration illegally denied the immigrants due process.
In a hearing on 15 March, James Boasberg, the top federal judge in Washington DC, imposed a temporary restraining order on the use of the law and ordered deportation flights that were in the air to be turned around.
However, the deportations continued. The next hearing in the case will be held on Thursday.
With reporting by Will Grant
