The United States flew over 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to be imprisoned in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele said Sunday, after US counterpart Donald Trump controversially invoked wartime legislation to expel them.
The deportations took place despite a US federal judge granting a temporary suspension of the expulsions order, apparently as planes were already headed to El Salvador. Caracas said the action violated both US and international laws. "Oopsie ... Too late," Bukele posted on social media in response to an article on the judge's ruling, adding a crying with laughter emoji.
The Trump administration said it was appealing the court order.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt defended the deportations, saying Trump was "using his core powers as president and commander-in-chief to defend the American people from an urgent threat." Bukele announced the action Sunday on X, saying, "Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country."
He shared a video of several men in handcuffs and shackles being transferred from a plane to a heavily guarded convoy, while the presidency shared a series of photos showing prisoners' heads being shaved on their arrival in El Salvador. AFP
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