Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes
Only six of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants deported in March by federal officials were convicted of violent offenses – with more than half having no criminal convictions at all – a research investigation by ProPublica reveals. Yet the group was characterized as 'the worst of the worst' and branded as 'rapists' and 'murderers' by the administration as they were deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador using the Alien Enemies Act.
ProPublica
The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data that has not been previously reported.
President Donald Trump and his aides have branded the Venezuelans as “rapists,” “savages,” “monsters” and “the worst of the worst.” When multiple news organizations disputed those assertions with reporting that showed many of the deportees did not have criminal records, the administration doubled down. It said that its assessment of the deportees was based on a thorough vetting process that included looking at crimes committed both inside and outside the United States. But the government’s own data, which was obtained by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and a team of journalists from Venezuela, showed that officials knew that only 32 of the deportees had been convicted of U.S. crimes and that most were nonviolent offenses, such as retail theft or traffic violations.
ADDITIONAL NEWS FROM THE INTEGRITY PROJECT
