The United States government deported 238 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, where they were put in the Terrorism Confinement Centre, an extremely harsh prison. The US will pay El Salvador $20,000 per person per year to keep them in prison.
In detaining and deporting the migrants, the US government invoked the Alien Enemies Act. Adopted in 1798, this law was last invoked during World War II, when people of Japanese descent were put in internment camps.
Those deported to El Salvador were accused of belonging to a criminal gang called Tren de Aragua (TdA). This was a gang that originated in Venezuela more than a decade ago, which the Venezuelan government claims to have dismantled.
US President Donald Trump, however, claims that TdA is 鈥溾.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric, particularly against Venezuelan migrants, played a major role in Trump鈥檚 election campaign last year. Trump designated TdA as a 鈥渇oreign terrorist organisation鈥. However, no evidence has been presented that TdA has carried out any serious criminal activity in the US. Authorities have also not provided any proof that those arrested and deported belong to the group.
The Venezuelan government has condemned the deportations. A , cited by , said: 鈥淭he vast majority of Venezuelan migrants are hard-working, dignified and honest men and women. They are not alien enemies. They are victims.鈥
Venezuelan President Nicol谩s Maduro addressed a in Caracas to demand freedom for the deportees. 鈥淭his is an aggression against the whole people of Venezuela, because our migrants are not terrorists,鈥 he said. 鈥淰enezuela is ready to denounce these massive human rights violations against the noble working migrants in the United States.鈥
Meanwhile the US threatens to intensify economic sanctions against Venezuela. US oil company Chevron, which had been working in a joint venture with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, was ordered by the US government to cease this arrangement and wind down its operations by April 3. However, the claims that Trump is open to reversing this decision after lobbying from the company. This is the latest in a series of contradictory messages about Trump's policy towards Venezuela.
In the first few weeks of the Trump administration, it had seemed that Trump wanted a deal whereby Venezuela would facilitate the return of its citizens from the US while Chevron would be allowed to continue operating in Venezuela. Trump鈥檚 representative Richard Grenell met with Maduro, and several hundred Venezuelans returned home from the US.
However, this seeming agreement with Maduro was opposed by some of Trump's leading supporters. They wanted to intensify sanctions against Venezuela in the hope that the resulting economic crisis would lead to the downfall of the Maduro government. Other Trump supporters, while still hostile to Maduro, believe it is necessary to talk to him to facilitate the departure of Venezuelan migrants from the US. This may help explain the mixed messages.
There are about 600,000 Venezuelans currently living in the US. Previously, they were given Temporary Protective Status, enabling them to stay in the US, but this has now been cancelled.
Millions of Venezuelans have left their homeland in recent years, as a result of an economic crisis, , according to the Centre for Economic Policy and Research. The sanctions severely limit Venezuela鈥檚 exports (mainly oil) and imports (including spare parts for machines, as well as medicines and vaccines). Some exemptions are granted, but the impact on the Venezuelan economy and people鈥檚 wellbeing is severe.
The US government has attempted to force non-US companies not to trade with Venezuelan government bodies such as PDVSA. Hence, the sanctions are widely considered to amount to a blockade.
The blockade causes poverty, and poverty causes emigration. Trump鈥檚 policy of detaining and deporting Venezuelan migrants further victimises those who have been adversely affected by US policy.
[This article was updated on March 23.]