The US government deported 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador in March 2025, where they were detained without trial in the notorious high-security CECOT prison. After four months of reported abuses, they were returned to Venezuela on July 18, 2025, in a prisoner exchange deal.
On March 15, 2025, the United States deported 238 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, who were immediately placed in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) without a trial or release date, according to Wikipedia and Human Rights Watch. The deportations took place under the Trump administration under the Alien Enemies Act, and another 17 people were sent on March 30, Amnesty International reports. The purpose was a deal in which El Salvador detained US deportees in exchange for payment, the Associated Press reports via Wikipedia.
The deportation and imprisonment in CECOT
The 238 Venezuelans were flown to El Salvador and immediately forced into CECOT, a maximum-security prison known for human rights abuses, according to a Human Rights Watch report from November 2025. The prisoners were held incommunicado for four months, and reports describe beatings and beatings upon arrival, such as when a prisoner with back problems was hit in the neck on the way to the prison. El Salvador’s Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro has previously stated that those placed in CECOT never leave alive, according to Human Rights Watch, which quotes him from February 2023.
As Human Rights Watch reports in its report “You Have Arrived in Hell,” the Venezuelans were held incommunicado in CECOT until July 18, 2025, when they were returned to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange between El Salvador and Venezuela. Wikipedia confirms that the stay was open-ended, with an internal memo from El Salvador’s Foreign Ministry indicating a one-year stay “pending a decision by the United States on long-term placement.”
Background and criticism from human rights organizations
The deportations came amid El Salvador’s state of emergency since 2022, which has led to systematic prison abuses including torture and deaths, according to the organization Cristosal cited by Human Rights Watch. At least 419 prisoners have died in El Salvador’s prisons since 2022 due to denial of food, water, and physical torture. Human Rights Watch describes CECOT as the “Guantánamo of Central America” due to allegations of torture, deaths in custody, and arbitrary detention.
Individual cases and legal challenges
For example, Salvadoran Jordin Melgar-Salmeron was deported to Izalco prison on May 7, 2025, despite a court order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit allowing him to remain during his immigration proceedings, according to Wikipedia. Many Venezuelans had pending asylum cases or had been granted asylum in the U.S., but were deported anyway, Amnesty International reports. The organization notes that they now risk arbitrary detention in Venezuela, where authorities are committing crimes against humanity against critics.
Release and aftereffects
On July 18, 2025, all 252 Venezuelans were released from CECOT and deported to Venezuela, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele stated that this was a one-year period that could be extended, but there is uncertainty about future releases as the detainees have not had trials in El Salvador. They disappeared from the US ICE detainee locator, and it is unclear how or when they could have been released, according to the Associated Press via Wikipedia. Amnesty International remains concerned about their safety in Venezuela despite their release from CECOT.
In summary, the United States deported 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador’s CECOT prison in March 2025 without trial, where they were held for four months in reported abusive conditions before being sent back to Venezuela on July 18, 2025.
