In several sworn declarations, lawyers, relatives and a former employee of the Ministry of Internal Security, they abandoned the deportation of the Trump administration last weekend of Venezuelan migrants to the notorious prison in Salvador.
Declarations, which were filed overnight on Wednesday, describe in detail how some of the migrants were detained and how they were transferred to Texas detention facilities before being sent to Salvador. Declarations also claim that many migrants do not have ties to the Venezuelan band Tren de Aragua or have criminal files.
An employee of American immigration and customs implementation, recognized in a sworn declaration earlier this week, that “many” of the unborn, deported under the Law on Enemies of Alien enemies, did not have criminal records in the United States.
Asked by ABC News about how the authorities determine whether the migrants are gang members, the White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt said on Wednesday that the Trump administration “would not reveal operational details about surgery to combat terrorism.”
Michel Sarabia Gonzalez, Anelo’s sister Jose Sarbia, who is thought to be in El Salvador, said in a sworn statement that when she and her brother went to a routine ice registration two months ago as part of the asylum application process, employees do not allow her brother to leave.
“The officers asked me if my brother belongs to a band and a tattoo that is visible on his hand,” Gonzalez said. “The tattoo of his left hand is made of rose with money like petals.” Gonzalez said in her statement that her brother was not related to Tren de Aragua.
In several declarations, the lawyers describe how their customers were placed on a deportment plane but were eliminated as a temporary restraining order was issued before the aircraft.
Lawyer Stephanie Quintero said her client told her from an ice agent: “You all know how lucky you are. You all hit the lottery because you are not deported today.”
A rose tattoo can be seen on the hand of a Venezuelan migrant.
US District Court for Colombia County
Quintero said her client and several other detainees were removed from the aircraft and sent back to the El Vale detention center.
A lawyer also described how the authorities took them by bus to the plane after taking them out of the Texas detention centers over the weekend.
“They were shackled from top to bottom – wrists, waist, ankles, chains that appeared through their back so they could barely move,” Quintero said.
One of the detainees, said Quintero, almost fell on the bus “from exhaustion of heat and dehydration and began to bleed profusely from his nose.”
“The detainees have notified the security, but they did not provide this person with medical help,” Quinno said. The incident was also mentioned in a declaration by another immigration lawyer.
Austin Thierry, a lawyer who presents a Venezuelan migrant named EV, who is thought to be in El Salvador, said his client had no removal orders and had a scheduled hearing before the immigration judge in June.
Thierry said EV has an infant son who is a US citizen. According to Thierry, EV was detained after Ice officials appeared in his house looking for another person.
“After the EV detention, his partner and the infant son struggled to meet their expenses and maintain housing,” Tierry said.
Thierry said he believed that his client’s crown tattoo “maybe the reason for the ice to accuse him of a band membership.”
“This crown is not related to Tren de Aragua, but rather a tribute to his grandmother, whose date of death appears at the heart of the crown,” said Thierry.
Lawyer Linnet Tobin, who represents Jers Reyes Barios, a professional Venezuela football player who protested against Maduro’s regime and was detained and tortured after one of the demonstrations, said his client had been fakely charged with having a gang tattoo.
“He chose this tattoo because she is similar to the logo for his favorite football team Real Madrid,” Tobin said.
Deborah Fleischaker, a former DHS employee, has repelled a declaration filed earlier this week by an icy employee who claims that the alleged gang members have been deported as the ice is not ready to detain TDA members.
“The ice retention facilities in the United States are ready to hold any unprecedented, regardless of the level of security risk,” Fleischaker says in his sworn declaration. “This includes people with violent criminal history, as well as members of bands and foreign terrorist organizations.”
The former DHS employee said ice retention facilities were able to manage all levels of detainees and said the ice could safely retain the persons “during the removal procedure.”
The US Civil Liberties’ attorneys said in the submission that migrants sent to Salvador “face prison, which were considered harsh and life -threatening due to systematic prison abuse.”
ACLU attorneys added that the Law on Enemy Enegers did not provide the process for persons to challenge that they were members of the TDA or provide people with a “legal grace period” to seek judicial review.
After Trump referred to the Law on Alien enemies, the lawyers said: “People with upcoming immigration proceedings began to move at night from ice detention facilities throughout the country and did not allow them to appear in their production where many seek asylum,” the lawyers said.
