Venezuelan migrants arrive in El Salvador. Credit: PBS NewsHour screenshot from YouTube
On Saturday, March 15, the Trump administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport more than 200 Venezuelans to the Terrorist Confinement Center in El Salvador, known for its extreme human rights violations, alleging that all were members of Tren de Aragua. Brutal videos posted on social media by El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, showed young men in shackles being dragged by the neck and head in a humiliating manner as law enforcement escorted them off the plane and into the facility. This occurred after a $6 million deal was reached with the Trump administration to receive the Venezuelan immigrants in El Salvador. As the flight was en route to El Salvador, a federal judge ordered a pause on the deportation, but the Trump administration proceeded anyway, essentially ignoring the order.
The Alien Enemies Act was a law first enacted in the U.S. as part of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. It grants the president the authority to imprison and deport non-citizens during times of war or invasion. The Act was last used during World War II to detain Japanese, German, and Italian nationals after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the U.S. declared war on Japan. This led to the forceful incarceration of about 120,000 Japanese citizens in concentration camps, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens.
The White House issued a statement claiming that TdA is “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States”, using this as justification to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to criminalize and deport Venezuelan immigrants without opportunity to have their case heard before an immigration judge.
Immigration attorney Grace Mann told Liberation News that the Trump administration deported individuals without disclosing their identities or presenting evidence of gang affiliation. Among those deported were a tattoo artist labeled a gang member solely due to his tattoos and former unaccompanied children with pending immigration applications. Mann noted that the administration knowingly disregarded a court order, understanding that once deported, it would be extremely difficult for individuals to regain legal status.
Prior to these developments, on Jan. 28, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans who applied in 2023. About 7 million Venezuelans live outside of Venezuela, with an estimated 814,000 residing in the U.S. Over 600,000 Venezuelans currently hold TPS, which grants them legal permission to live and work here.
On March 9, 2021, under the Biden administration, the Department of Homeland Security, designated Venezuela for TPS, with the second TPS designation issued on Oct. 3, 2023. Those who applied under the Oct. 2023 designation now face expiration dates of April 7, 2025. Anyone whose TPS expires in April are left with the option to leave the country by the expiration date, change their immigration status, or face a deportation order.
In an interview with NBC News the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem said the TPS program “has been abused” and “Venezuelans that have come into this country are members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA)”, adding that “Venezuela purposely emptied out their prisons, emptied out their mental health facilities and sent them to the United States”.
Tren de Aragua
Over the past year, a widespread media campaign has portrayed Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. as members of the Tren de Aragua, a criminal gang that originated in Venezuela’s state of Aragua before expanding across the country. U.S. media coverage of TdA intensified between 2023 and 2024, following a surge in migration by foot in 2022, when an estimated 300,000 migrants crossed the treacherous Darién between Colombia and Panama on their journey to the U.S.in 2024 alone.
In December 2023, Edwin Camejo was arrested in Chicago on charges of drug trafficking, claiming he was a member of TdA. On Jan. 27, 2024, a viral video showed suspects allegedly assaulting police in New York, with authorities stating that two were TdA members.
In August 2024, a viral video claimed to show allegedly TdA members “taking over” an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, while armed. However, a local investigation by members of the Denver branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, debunked these claims, revealing that the video was filmed at a different building owned by the same landlord, following the eviction of Venezuelan immigrants from one of his properties. The investigation suggested that the landlord’s actions were motivated by racist, anti-immigrant sentiment, as a distraction from his own negligence in addressing ongoing maintenance issues, despite residents consistently paying their rent on time.
The same day the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a couple with three kids on TPS was arrested and held by Border Patrol for three days in Washington, D.C. and charged with a misdemeanor for illegally entering the U.S. through Texas more than two years ago.
In July 2024, the Biden administration designated TdA as a terrorist organization, citing alleged influence across the continent. Meanwhile, media narratives continue to link Venezuelans to organized crime without substantive proof, fueling anti-immigrant rhetoric.
On Donald Trump’s first day in office he passed an executive order designating TdA, among other drug cartels and gangs, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, using it as a justification to increase raids and deportations of Venezuelans. On Feb. 5 in Denver, Colorado, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided a building with predominant Venezuelan immigrant families reporting to target for arrest and detention of “100+ members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua […] in an ongoing investigation.”
In early February, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that 10 TdA members were among the first sent to Guantanamo Bay, in an unlawful act to deport undocumented immigrants with no notice, legal representation, rights, or opportunity to challenge allegations — effectively labeling them all as “criminals.”
The portrayal of TdA as an “international criminal group” by the media, along with the recent White House statement claiming that “TdA is closely aligned with, and indeed has infiltrated, the Maduro regime”, is ultimately misleading and incorrect. In fact, between 2019 to 2023, the Venezuelan government conducted an extensive operation to dismantle TdA and other criminal gangs, significantly reducing robbery and homicide rates. A report by Venezuela’s Prosecutor’s Office announced that, during this period, a few members of TdA who crossed the border into Colombia traveled to the U.S. with support from former Colombian President Iván Duque and Venezuelan right-wing opposition figures such as Leopoldo López and Giber Caro. Caro has connections with gang leaders in the country and has been linked to multiple coup attempts in Venezuela against Nicolás Maduro.
Unilateral coercive measures
The Anti-Blockade Observatory estimates between 2014 and 2023, Venezuela faced 930 illegal unilateral coercive measures imposed by the U.S. A 2019 report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated that approximately 40,000 Venezuelans died between 2017 and 2018 due to lack of access to food and medicine as a result of U.S. sanctions. UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas estimated that by early 2020 the number of deaths caused by these sanctions rose to 100,000.
U.S. sanctions on Venezuela function as a tool of economic warfare, strangling Venezuela’s economy, destabilizing daily life, and fueling the current immigration crisis. This strategy makes daily life unbearable, coercing the masses into supporting the right-wing opposition. Over the years, Venezuelan opposition leaders have pushed for increased sanctions to cripple the country’s economy in an effort to overthrow Nicolás Maduro’s government while fostering nationwide chaos.
Today, Venezuelan migration accounts for nearly 20% of the population, driven by the extreme economic situation and targeted sanctions.
US-Venezuela relations and ‘Return to the Homeland’ plan
As a result of U.S. sanctions and the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the path for Venezuelan citizens to return to their country remained uncertain.
After Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell visited President Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan government announced the return of three Conviasa flights, through their “Return to the Homeland” plan, designed to help Venezuelan migrants affected by economic sanctions voluntarily return.
On Feb. 20, a Conviasa flight arrived in Venezuela with 177 Venezuelans immigrants unjustly detained in Guantanamo Bay. In a telephone call with Venezuelan channel VTV, the Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, said none of them were linked to Tren de Aragua. Following this, two more flights brought migrants back to Venezuela from the U.S. and Mexico, including children of Venezuelan citizens born in the U.S. and denied citizenship, violating human rights. These families have arrived in Venezuela, where the proper paperwork is being processed for Venezuelan citizenship. The government of Venezuela highlighted that these flights were carried out in order to assure migrants returned with “absolute respect for the dignity and human rights”.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department set April 3 as the deadline for Chevron to cease operations in Venezuela. In response, the Venezuelan government warned the Trump administration that repatriation flights might be suspended unless a diplomatic agreement is reached.
The President of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, has directed to prevent Venezuelans from traveling to the US, given the abuse and lack of human rights for migrants. He added that the government will do everything in its power to return Venezuelans home from El Salvador.
End US imperialism, sanctions, and war
For many years, the U.S. ruling class claims sanctions on Venezuela are imposed in the name of “democracy” and “freedom,” but in reality, they are coercive measures that devastate the economy in an attempt to end the Bolivarian Revolution. Both Democratic and Republican politicians have treated Venezuelans as political pawns, disregarding their human rights. Venezuelans will keep migrating as long as U.S. sanctions strangle the country.
The National TPS Alliance filed a lawsuit challenging the termination of the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuelans, with a court hearing on March 24. The Trump administration also announced the TPS termination for Haitians, expiring Aug. 3, 2025. Other countries currently under TPS protections could also face similar threats in the coming months. The termination of TPS and the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan immigrants not only highlights the U.S. government’s blatant violation of human rights but also highlights the Trump administration’s escalating war on all immigrants.
The U.S. has about 15 to 20 million undocumented immigrants who contribute significantly to the economy, making the country heavily reliant on immigrant labor. Comprehensive immigration reform is urgent, but it is also crucial to end U.S. imperialism, economic sanctions, interventions, and wars around the world, and to build an international policy grounded in cooperation and respect for national sovereignty. All people deserve to live with dignity in their home countries, free from the conditions that force them to migrate under dire conditions.
