In brief
A coalition of migrant rights lawyers has filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, advocating for the release of Venezuelan nationals deported to El Salvador and held without due process.
El Salvador's government is being sued as more than a dozen families allege that their loved ones, deported from the U.S. to a notorious maximum-security prison called CECOT, have been illegally detained for nearly two months. The lawsuit, which includes 18 Venezuelan nationals, highlights the lack of communication from the prison, with families reporting no news about their relatives since March. Most of those detained had pending or approved asylum applications in the United States, raising concerns of enforced disappearance and breach of rights.Isabel C. Roby, a senior attorney involved in the case, emphasized that the migrants were deported without due process and are being held incommunicado. According to recent estimates, over 288 deportees, primarily Venezuelans along with a small number of Salvadorans, are imprisoned at CECOT, a facility that has become a focal point in the deportation agreement between El Salvador and the Trump administration.The lawsuit seeks to secure the immediate release of the detained migrants and urges that they be allowed to return to the U.S. or relocate to a safe country. El Salvador’s government has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the detentions.
