WOW. Somehow I missed this case entirely. A Venezuelan man WITH TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS almost ended up on the flight to El Salvador on March 15. His lawyers managed to get a habeas lawsuit filed on March 14 and a restraining order that day, so he didn't get on the flight. But it was a near miss.
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I don't understand why this man, with refugee status he waited years for in Colombia, is not also coming back?
He escaped being renditioned to CECOT by a very small margin.
I summarized what we know so far here:
https://immigrationimpact.com/2025/04/03/men-deported-el-salvador-stories-investigation/
(Granddaughter of a German Jew who moved to the UK in 1934 and later ended up stateless for several years)
Teenager Leonel Echavez was also sent to CECOT. ICE knocked on his door looking for his roommate, but when they saw his tattoos, they nabbed him.
"Echavez has tattoos of a rose with branches, an arrow and of his sister's name."
No one's ever been released from CECOT.
A second man described in the article is still in custody and challenging his detention.
https://myrgv.com/publications/the-monitor/2025/03/19/2-venezuelans-held-in-valley-nearly-deported-under-trumps-wartime-declaration/
It's used to "dispose of people without formally applying the death penalty".
No one has ever been released.