UN Experts Alarmed At Illegal Deportations From The United States To El Salvador

GENEVA (30 April 2025) – UN human rights experts* today expressed deep concern at the apparently unlawful deportations of over 250 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men – allegedly involved with gangs – from the United States to El Salvador.

“In many cases, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 seems to have been misapplied to deny due process, independent review and court access, contrary to international human rights law. The lack of due process resulted in arbitrary deportation decisions against many people who were reportedly not involved with gangs,” the experts said.

“The summary nature of the decisions was clearly inadequate to determine if people were at risk of serious human rights violations in El Salvador,” the experts said. The decisions also did not appear to consider the impact on the right to family life and the best interests of children, as well as the distinct impacts of security measures on women’s rights.

The international law duty of non-refoulement prohibits deporting any person to a place where there is a substantial risk of arbitrary deprivation of life, torture and/or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, unfair trial or other irreparable harm.

In this context, the experts expressed grave concern about El Salvador’s prisons, where there have been reports of deaths, torture and ill-treatment, violence between prisoners and enforced disappearances. Prison conditions are allegedly inhumane, contrary to international standards, with detainees held in overcrowded, boxed cages, without bare necessities such as mattresses, and with inadequate medical care.

“We call on the Salvadoran Government to allow independent monitoring bodies immediate and unfettered access to prisons holding the deportees,” the experts said.

They expressed alarm at the unclear legal basis for the detention of the deportees in El Salvador and the lack of effective remedies, including difficulties in accessing legal representation, family visits, consular access and judicial review. “These rights must be immediately guaranteed,” the experts said.

“The lack of a clear legal status in El Salvador could further expose the deportees to indefinite and arbitrary detention in the country, and put some Venezuelan detainees at risk of onward refoulement to Venezuela where they could face serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearances,” the experts said.

They noted that the deportations and related incommunicado detentions appeared to involve enforced disappearances, contrary to international law. Many detainees were unaware of their destination, their families were not informed of their detention or removal, and the US and Salvadoran authorities have not published the names or legal status of the detainees. Those imprisoned in El Salvador have been denied the right to communicate with and be visited by their family members.

The US and El Salvador have also refused to return individuals found by US courts to have been illegally deported. “We call on both Governments to cooperate to return them to the US, as well as anyone else who was unlawfully deported and wishes to go back,” the experts said.

They expressed concern that the legal criteria to apply the Alien Enemies Act have not been met. “There has plainly been no ‘invasion’ or ‘predatory incursion’ of the US by any foreign State, as required by the Act. Even if some individuals were gang members, gang activity is a crime, not an act of war. The deportations were thus apparently illegal under US law and were arbitrary and unlawful expulsions under international law,” the experts said.

They also expressed concern that the US had abusively designated gangs as “terrorist” organisations, to justify invoking the Alien Enemies Act. “Organised crime is a distinct problem that should be addressed by more appropriate legal frameworks. Falsely stigmatising people as “terrorists” further jeopardises their rights.”

"We are alarmed by political attacks on the independence of the US judiciary and the professional role of lawyers in representing their clients in these cases," the experts said. Civil society organisations and human rights defenders advocating on these cases must be protected from any potential reprisals in El Salvador or the US.

“We strongly urge the US Government to stop using the Alien Enemies Act or any other law to summarily deport people. Any deportations should be conducted under regular immigration law and in accordance with international law, including non-refoulement, due process, judicial safeguards and effective remedies,” the experts said. “Deportations must stop until these international legal guarantees are respected.”

The experts have formally communicated their concerns to the Governments of the United States and El Salvador, along with a non-exhaustive list of more than 100 Venezuelan nationals affected by these deportations, many of whose fate and whereabouts are unknown. Special Procedures mandate holders previously raised concerns about due process and detention in El Salvador in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

*The experts: Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; Gabriella Citroni (Chair-Rapporteur), Grażyna Baranowska (Vice-Chair); Aua Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, Mohammed Al-Obaidi (members), Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls; Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Cecilia M Bailliet, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing

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