SPECIAL EXPOSÉ: America's Quiet Export of Human Beings: The Truth About CECOT, Trafficking, and Trump’s War on Migrants
How the U.S. is using a brutal foreign mega-prison to disappear migrants—and why it could get much worse.
This is not deportation. It is trafficking.
Pathfinders, what you’re about to read is a special exposé based on deep research I conducted to better understand the legal status of the people sent from the United States to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison under the Trump administration.
The findings are beyond disturbing.
The overwhelming majority of these individuals had no criminal record.
They were sent not to their home countries, and not through legal deportation channels, but to a foreign super-max prison infamous for its human rights abuses.
They were sent there shackled, shaved, humiliated, and displayed in government propaganda videos meant to instill fear.
This is, without equivocation, human trafficking sanctioned by the U.S. government.
Let me walk you through exactly what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what it means for all of us.
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Who Got Sent to CECOT—And Why?
On March 15, 2025, the United States deported 261 individuals to El Salvador to be incarcerated in the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), according to a U.S. court filing and Salvadoran government statements.1
137 Venezuelans were labeled by the Trump administration as members of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).
101 additional Venezuelans, not directly tied to the gang by name, were also sent.
23 Salvadoran nationals, labeled MS-13 gang members, were included in the transfer.
Critically, most of the Venezuelans had no criminal convictions or charges in the United States.
A 60 Minutes report2 cited Department of Homeland Security data indicating an "overwhelming majority" had no U.S. criminal record.
Professions among those deported included a makeup artist, a food delivery driver, and a soccer player.
While some of the individuals were undocumented immigrants or awaiting asylum hearings, the Trump administration sidestepped all legal process by invoking a fringe interpretation of a centuries-old law: the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Trump’s Legal Excuse: The Alien Enemies Act
The Alien Enemies Act (50 U.S.C. §21) gives the President authority to detain or deport non-citizens from enemy nations during times of war.
It was last used during World War II to detain nationals of Axis powers.
In 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation declaring Tren de Aragua part of an invasion force tied to the Venezuelan government, framing this as a national security emergency.
In doing so, he designated Venezuelan TdA members as “enemy aliens.”3
According to analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice and Lawfare, this interpretation is legally unprecedented.
There is no formal war between the United States and Venezuela.
Trump’s use of this statute marked the first peacetime invocation of the Alien Enemies Act in modern U.S. history.45
Unlike standard immigration law, the Alien Enemies Act does not require hearings, judges, or evidence.
It grants unilateral authority to the executive branch, and in Trump’s hands, that meant mass expulsions without oversight.
No Convictions. No Hearings. Just Exile.
Take the case of Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran national and Maryland resident with an American wife and two children.
He had fled gang violence in El Salvador years earlier and had no U.S. criminal record.
Yet in March 2025, Abrego was arrested during a traffic stop and transferred to CECOT within 72 hours.
ICE admitted the deportation violated his legal protections and was an "administrative error"6.
Despite this, DHS refused to repatriate him, instead labeling him a gang affiliate based on secret intelligence—evidence that has never been publicly disclosed.
A federal judge, Paula Xinis, later ruled that his rights were violated and ordered the government to retrieve him from El Salvador. The Trump administration appealed [Federal District Court, Maryland, Apr. 2025].
In the broader program, detainees were not notified of their removal, had no opportunity to challenge it in court, and were not processed through immigration courts.
They were branded as national security threats and removed under cover of legal fiction.
Where They Were Sent: CECOT, Hell On Earth
CECOT, opened in February 2023, is El Salvador’s largest maximum-security prison.
Constructed under President Nayib Bukele, the facility was built to detain up to 40,000 inmates, primarily suspected gang members.
Since the declaration of El Salvador’s "state of exception" in 2022, over 84,000 people have been arrested, many on flimsy or nonexistent evidence.
Over 366 detainees have died in custody. CECOT is the centerpiece of Bukele’s “war on gangs,” and is widely criticized by human rights observers.
Conditions inside are inhumane:
Prisoners are stripped, shaved, and shackled on arrival.
Held in overcrowded cells with no sunlight, no family contact, and limited access to legal counsel.7
There are no outdoor recreation spaces; inmates sleep shoulder-to-shoulder on concrete.
Independent monitoring has been denied.
According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), prisoners have an average of just 0.6 square meters of personal space—well below international standards.
Reports of torture and stress positions are widespread8.
The 261 people sent from the U.S. are now housed there.
The U.S. government is paying El Salvador $6 million to hold them for at least a year.9
They remain in limbo.
The Courts Step In—But Too Late?
Civil rights groups, including the ACLU, sued the administration immediately after the transfers.
On March 16, 2025, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting further deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.
The deportation flight was already en route.
The Trump administration landed it anyway.
Bukele tweeted “Oopsie… Too late 😆” in reference to the judge’s order [Al Jazeera, Mar. 2025].
Legal experts described this as open defiance of federal court authority.
The administration argued that the individuals were no longer under U.S. jurisdiction once they landed.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. J.G.G. that while the Alien Enemies Act could be used, individuals targeted under it are still entitled to reasonable notice and judicial review before removal10.
But the Court also vacated the nationwide block, allowing the policy to proceed so long as notice is given.
Those already deported remain stranded.
Yes, This IS Trafficking
The criteria for trafficking include coercion, forced transport, and confinement against will.
By any fair standard, the program launched by the Trump administration meets those criteria:
Individuals were removed without consent or due process.
They were sent to a country that is not their own.
They were locked in a facility known for torture and extrajudicial detention.
Their removal was used as political theater and deterrence.
This is not lawful deportation.
This is the weaponization of immigration law, and the outsourcing of punishment to a foreign regime.
Trump himself has since floated the idea of sending American citizens to CECOT11, praising its cost-effectiveness and severity.
While no such transfers have occurred, the fact that this rhetoric exists at the highest levels of government is alarming.12
This Is a Red Line
This exposé was painful to research.
But I needed to know the full truth.
I needed to understand whether we had crossed the line from hardline immigration policy into something else entirely.
And we have.
This isn’t law enforcement.
This is authoritarianism in action.
It’s trafficking.
It’s terror.
And unless we speak up, it will get worse.
What You Can Do
Share this post. Most people don’t know this is happening.
Contact your representatives and demand oversight of executive use of the Alien Enemies Act.
Support immigrant and legal advocacy groups pushing for accountability and reparations.
We cannot allow cruelty to be rebranded as security.
If this exposé moved you, share it. Help others understand what’s really happening.
Stay loud, stay kind, and stay informed.
The Guardian, "El Salvador mega-prison: What to know about Cecot where Trump sent deported Venezuelans," March 20, 2025.
CBS News – 60 Minutes, "U.S. sent 238 migrants to Salvadoran mega-prison; documents indicate most have no apparent criminal records," April 6, 2025.
White House Proclamation, March 2025.
Brennan Center for Justice, Analysis of Alien Enemies Act, 2024.
Lawfare, Quinta Jurecic et al., "Mixed Signals on Alleged Alien Enemies," April 2025.
7News (WJLA), "Federal judge orders return of Maryland father mistakenly deported to El Salvador prison," April 5, 2025.
Human Rights Watch, Declaration on Prison Conditions in El Salvador, March 2025.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Report on El Salvador’s prison conditions, September 2024.
Al Jazeera, "Trump deports 238 ‘gang members’ to El Salvador: What’s the controversy?", March 17, 2025.
SCOTUSBlog, Analysis of Trump v. J.G.G., April 2025.
Rolling Stone, “Team Trump is Gaming Out How to Ship U.S. Citizens to El Salvador”, April 2025.
The National Desk, "Trump open to sending US inmates to El Salvador amid legal battles," April 2025.