Most migrants in mega-prison lack criminal records: Report

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
8 Apr 2025 12:47

The report highlights what many families of deported migrants have affirmed—wrongful deportations based on misinterpreted tattoos—and points to further legal challenges ahead.

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Prison guards stand outside holding cells during a media tour of the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on February 2, 2023. (AP)

A CBS News 60 Minutes report revealed on Sunday that three-fourths of the Venezuelan migrants flown from Texas to a notorious maximum security prison in El Salvador had no apparent criminal record. This finding raises concerns about the deportations, especially since many of the migrants were removed after President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expedite the removal of Venezuelan migrants suspected of gang affiliations.

Civil liberties groups have criticized the move, pointing out the lack of due process and arguing that the United States is not at war, making the use of this 18th-century wartime law unjustified.

According to the 60 Minutes report, 75% of the 238 migrants sent to El Salvador’s Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT) had no criminal records. Of those remaining, at least 22% had records for non-violent offenses such as theft, shoplifting, and trespassing, with only a dozen accused of violent crimes like murder, rape, assault, and kidnapping. Some deported individuals had no criminal record at all, while it is unclear whether others had records abroad.

One of the deported individuals, Andry Hernandez Romero, a makeup artist who sought asylum in the US, was among those sent to the Salvadoran prison. Photos of him show visible tattoos that the US immigration officials used as evidence of gang affiliation, despite his claims that he was not a gang member but a stylist.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson alleged that some individuals without criminal records "are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters, and more," but have not been documented in the US system. Border Czar Tom Homan emphasized that immigration agents conducted thorough checks to confirm the migrants’ ties to the Tren de Aragua gang.

However, the US Department of Justice recently admitted in court that a Salvadoran national, Juan Abrego Garcia, was wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia, living legally in Maryland, was detained by immigration agents and deported after a mistaken change in his status.

The 60 Minutes report highlights what many families of deported migrants have affirmed—wrongful deportations based on misinterpreted tattoos—and further legal challenges are expected as the Trump administration faces a drop in overall immigrant removals despite high-profile deportations.

US connected migrants to criminal gangs based on clothing, tattoos

Earlier this month, new court papers revealed that the Trump administration accused migrants of belonging to criminal gangs based on their clothing or tattoos.

In the court papers submitted, lawyers for the Venezuelan migrants produced a government document titled "Alien Enemy Validation Guide," which laid out a series of criteria that administration officials are required to meet to designate the men as members of Tren de Aragua, ensuring a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the process without concluding any thought prematurely.

Using the Alien Enemies Act the White House ordered the expulsion of over 100 migrants, denying them any due process to contest the allegations.

The document outlined a scoring system to determine whether migrants were affiliated with the gang, commonly known as TdA, specifying that an individual needed at least eight points to be classified as a member. Under this system, any migrant who confessed to gang membership automatically received 10 points—immediately marking them as part of TdA and making them eligible for deportation under the Alien Enemies Act without further review.

However, the document also states that officials can assign four points to a migrant just for having "TdA-affiliated tattoos," and another four points if law enforcement determines the individual "wears clothing, symbols, or other markings associated with the gang"—effectively allowing subjective judgments to meet the threshold for deportation.

The document further allows officials to classify migrants as Tren de Aragua members based solely on wearing "high-end urban streetwear"—specifically citing Chicago Bulls merchandise or Michael Jordan apparel as grounds for suspicion.

The lawyers contested the administration's broad application of the Alien Enemies Act, arguing that officials have misapplied the law, which is intended for use only during a declared war or a foreign invasion.

Three weeks ago, Washington's Federal District Court Judge James E. Boasberg temporarily blocked the White House from using the law to deport Venezuelans, prompting the Trump administration to request the Supreme Court to pause the judge's order while it evaluates the case's legal merits.