Venezuelan migrants deported from the US being treated as terrorists in a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Photo: Voz PĂşblica.
US intelligence agencies contradict the allegations made by President Donald Trump who claimed the Venezuelan government is backing the disbanded criminal gang Tren de Aragua in order to justify the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1789.
On Friday, March 21, the US newspaper New York Times published an article highlighting that in February 2025, US intelligence reports demonstrated that the Tren de Aragua does not receive orders from the government of President Nicolás Maduro, and therefore, there is no state control over the gang. This contradicts the Trump administration’s narrative that is being deployed to justify the illegal deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador and their subsequent imprisonment in a maximum-security prison there.
Although US intelligence reports do not support Trump’s narrative, the US president continues to insist that the Tren de Aragua is the executor of an alleged destabilization plan operated from Caracas. Therefore, the White House considers that Trump acted within the legal framework when invoking the Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelan migrants, cataloguing them as members of this criminal organization.
The NYT article adds that only the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disagreed partially with the reports in some aspects, as it claims that the gang has links with the Maduro government, using as supporting evidence some data that the other intelligence agencies discarded as unreliable.
The White House said in a statement that “multiple intelligence assessments are being prepared on issues for various reasons” but claimed that Trump “was within his legal and constitutional authority to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to expel illegal alien terrorists from our country.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s statement incorporates little evidence to support his allegations, such as a report that the Tren de Aragua grew progressively in the Venezuelan state of Aragua while Tareck El-Aissami was governor, during 2012-2017. However, it is not mentioned that El-Aissami was arrested by the Venezuelan government for being involved in corruption and, therefore, he is no longer part of the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
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The criteria used to qualify a person as a member of this gang are also questionable, such as having tattoos and the generalization of all Venezuelan migrants as terrorists, a fact that has led to jurists and human rights organizations condemning the deportations.
Trump goes to Court of Appeals
The NYT article further reported on the decision of a US federal judge to temporarily suspend the deportations, considering that legal procedures were violated.
The article noted that the Trump administration has appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit against the temporary suspension. The case is now before Judges Karen Henderson and Justin Walker, both Republican appointees, and Patricia Millett, a Democratic appointee.
The court has requested expedited submission of reports and has scheduled briefing, “suggesting that it is considering whether to rule on the legal merits of Trump’s invocation of Alien Enemies Act powers,” reported NYT.
The Court of Appeals will determine the legality of Donald Trump’s actions. Any decision will depend, in part, on whether the judges accept Trump’s claims of alleged links between the Venezuelan government and the Tren de Aragua.
(Últimas Noticias) by Olys Guárate
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
