Americans Held in Venezuela Swapped for Men Trump Sent to Salvadoran Megaprison

Hundreds of Venezuelans removed from the U.S. by the Trump administration and flown to a Salvadoran megaprison earlier this year were swapped Friday for 10 U.S. citizens and permanent residents, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

The hundreds of men have been at the center of a legal battle between the Trump administration and civil and human rights organizations since they were abruptly transferred in mid-March after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), a rarely used wartime law.

They were removed from the U.S. without being able to challenge their transfer or the Trump administration’s claim that they were members of Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization.

The Americans and permanent U.S. residents released by Venezuela Friday were imprisoned by President Nicolás Maduro’s regime in recent years as part of an effort to gain leverage in sanctions negotiations with the U.S.

Friday’s exchange comes after the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed in federal court that the U.S. could not return any of the men sent to CECOT, a notorious Salvadoran maximum security prison, because they are under the legal authority of El Salvador.

In official documents to the United Nations, El Salvador claimed that it did not have authority over the men. 

In his own power confirming the exchange, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said “we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country,” though he did not specify which government had control over the men in El Salvador.

Bukele said Friday’s exchange was the result of “months of negotiations” involving U.S. officials. 

Rubio, too, confirmed that State Department officials were involved in setting up the exchange, which he said was the result of Trump’s leadership.

It’s unclear what now becomes of J.G.G. v. Trump, the central case challenging Trump’s AEA removals.

Multiple Department of Justice (DOJ) officials involved in the case have been accused by one of their former colleagues of misleading the federal judge overseeing the case on multiple occasions. 

The ACLU and Democracy Forward*, which are representing the men who were held in CECOT, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a separate lawsuit challenging the removals, the DOJ claimed that Friday’s exchange “was made solely by the Government of El Salvador,” though it said the Trump administration may have to return some of the people to the U.S. if required by a court.

Shortly after the men were flown to CECOT, Venezuela accused the U.S. and El Salvador of kidnapping its citizens, while United Nations experts said earlier this year that the transfers likely violated international human rights law.

*Democracy Docket Founder Marc Elias is the chair of Democracy Forward’s board.