Trump deported 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador. Dozens have active asylum cases

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https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-deported-238-venezuelans-el-salvador-dozens-have-active-asylum-cases-2025-04-01/

Twenty-seven of the 50 Venezuelans whose cases Reuters reviewed have pending immigration court dates
Ten of the 50 were arrested when they appeared for routine immigration check-ins
ACLU lawsuit alleges flawed Tren de Aragua gang identification criteria

April 1 (Reuters) - On a Thursday morning last month, immigration agents knocked on the door of Leonel Echavez' Dallas home looking for someone else. Despite an upcoming immigration hearing, the 19-year-old Venezuelan was taken into custody for questioning about his tattoos.
Two days later, he was on a plane heading to El Salvador's most notorious prison.



Through interviews with family members of 50 of the deportees - found via advocates and family members in the U.S. and Venezuela, and checked against a leaked list of deportees published, opens new tab by CBS News - Reuters has captured the most comprehensive picture to date of how the men on those flights became caught up in a rapid-fire deportation process.

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Ten of the 50 were arrested when they appeared for routine immigration check-ins.
Others were detained going about their daily lives - filling up their cars, leaving for work, listening to music with friends, according to interviews with family members.
They were barbers, tattoo artists, construction workers, delivery drivers and factory workers.
Family members of more than two dozen of the deportees provided Venezuelan government documents attesting to clean criminal records there and all 50 families said their loved ones were not gang members. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the documents.
Reuters found criminal charges in the U.S. for names matching six of the men in the group, including for domestic violence and shoplifting, as well as a conviction for lewd and threatening language.