Trump deports gay makeup artist

Reyes Barrios was a soccer player in Venezuela. Holsinger said he heard a young man say, "I'm not a gang member.

Key Background

The Trump administration deported the 238 migrants to El Salvador on March 15 hours after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a special wartime authority that allows officials to eject some migrants without court proceedings.

Anybody can be picked up."

Gelernt has spent decades challenging the immigration policies of Democratic and Republican administrations. At a legal border crossing near San Diego, he was taken into custody while his case was processed.

Toczylowski said he had a strong asylum case.

Once we start using wartime authority with no oversight, anything is possible. You gotta get the worst first," he said at the time.

While on the campaign trail, Mr. Trump said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act to expedite the removal of Tren de Aragua members from the U.S. Last month, he followed through and invoked the 1798 law, which allows the president to remove non-citizens without immigration hearings during times of war or invasion.

"Every administration back to 1798 has understood this is wartime authority to be used when the United States is at war with a foreign government," Gelernt said.

Monday to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father the government said it mistakenly deported to El Salvador. And then, despite Boasberg's verbal and written orders, the planes all flew to El Salvador.

Since then, the U.S. government has disclosed very few details about the operation. If they've committed crimes, they can be prosecuted and perhaps spend many, many years in a U.S.

prison," Gelernt said. His lawyer said the tattoo honors his favorite team, Real Madrid, whose logo includes a crown. 

Organized crime analysts say that while members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang can often be identified by signature tattoos, Tren de Aragua is different. 

"Expert after expert tells us tattoos are not a reliable indicator of whether you're part of this particular gang," said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

What the records show

The Trump administration has released very little information about the Venezuelan migrants sent to prison in El Salvador.

The Trump administration has argued Boasberg did not have the authority to supersede an executive order and that his written order did not have the same instructions as his verbal directive to return the planes. But he says he doesn't know whether the migrants sent to prison in El Salvador will ever see their families again.

"There's a real danger that they remain there," he said. 

This past week, the Trump administration admitted it mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran man accused of being a gang member, to CECOT.

Those tattoos — crowns — were the only evidence U.S. immigration officials presented in court to accuse him of being part of the Tren de Aragua gang.

"These are tattoos that not only have a plausible explanation because he is someone who worked in the beauty pageant industry, but also the crowns themself were on top of the names of his parents," Toczylowski said.

He lived in Maryland with his wife and child who are American citizens. 

In court papers, the government called it an "administrative error," but said there is no way to get him back. Hernandez Romero had what is known as a credible fear interview, the first step in the process of seeking asylum in the U.S. 

"And the government had found that his threats against him were credible and that he had a real probability of winning an asylum claim," Toczylowski said. 

But last month, Hernandez Romero did not appear for a court hearing in the U.S.

Instead, he and others were taken in shackles to El Salvador. He made the long trek north through the Darien Gap, a 60-mile roadless stretch of dense forest between Colombia and Panama, to Mexico, where he eventually got an appointment to seek asylum in the United States. We didn't send them to a foreign prison," he said 

State secrets privilege

Before the Venezuelan migrants arrived in El Salvador, U.S.

District Court Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to turn the planes carrying the men around.

Romero, 31, was seeking asylum in the U.S. for persecution in Venezuela for being gay and his opposition to the Venezuelan government when he was deported to El Salvador with 237 other Venezuelan migrants on March 15 flights a judge ordered to turn around.

The Trump administration has claimed all of the men are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, but lawyers and family members for multiple men reject the assessments, while CBS News found no criminal records for 75% of the men.

Justice Department lawyers have repeatedly resisted Boasberg’s request for information about when the flights departed U.S. soil and the administration’s reasoning for deporting the migrants.

Further Reading

What To Know About Andry: 31-Year-Old Makeup Artist Falsely Deported To El Salvador Prison, Lawyer Says (Forbes)

Judge Boasberg Thinks There’s ‘Fair Likelihood’ Trump Administration Violated Court Order With El Salvador Flights (Forbes)

White House Doubles Down On Erroneous Deportation Of Maryland Dad (Forbes)