At Least 50 Legal Migrants Deported to El Salvador Jail

At least 50 Venezuelan migrants sent by the Trump administration to a high-security prison in El Salvador had legally entered the United States, according to a new report by the Cato Institute.

The libertarian think tank reviewed immigration records and found that of 90 individuals whose entry methods were identifiable, more than half had entered the U.S. through official, legal means—undermining previous claims by federal authorities that the deported group consisted solely of undocumented immigrants.

Cato’s analysis shows:

• 21 individuals presented themselves at ports of entry

• 24 were granted humanitarian parole

• 4 entered as resettled refugees

• 1 held a tourist visa

“These were not illegal border crossers,” the report states. “They came in with government authorization and were later stripped of their legal status.”

The deported individuals were sent to El Salvador’s controversial Terrorism Confinement Center, where they remain imprisoned. The Trump administration justified the deportations by alleging gang involvement, but Cato’s report says those claims were often based solely on tattoos—many of which were cultural or personal, not criminal.

One example cited is Andry José Hernández Romero, a Venezuelan makeup artist whose tattoos honoring “Three Kings Day” were flagged as potential gang symbols.

Cato notes that full records have not been released for all deportees, but the available data strongly suggests that legal migrants were wrongfully targeted.

The report raises serious questions about the integrity of past immigration enforcement and the treatment of vulnerable migrants who followed legal channels to seek protection in the U.S.