Venezuelan returnees welcome ruling to a fair trial in the US after being held in Salvadoran prison

Описание: (26 Dec 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Caracas, Venezuela - 26 December 2025
1. Various of Venezuelans who were detained in El Salvador prison standing next to each other as they give statements to the press
2. T-shirt of Venezuelan who was held in El Salvador reading (Spanish): "Being Venezuelan is not a crime"
3. Group of Venezuelan returnees applauds and chants slogan, UPSOUND (Spanish) "To migrate is not a crime!"
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ysqueibel Peñaloza, Venezuelan migrant previously held in El Salvador:
"The court ruling now orders that we be given the opportunity for a fair hearing in accordance with US law. We welcome the federal judge's decision, which reaffirms the principle that no government, regardless of its origin, is above international law, the fundamental principles of due process and respect for human rights. This ruling is a crucial step forward in protecting the rights of all migrants who leave their countries in difficult and vulnerable circumstances, the vast majority of whom are humble, hard-working families. We call on both the United States and El Salvador governments to comply fully with the court order."
5. Venezuelan who was held in El Salvador, Arturo Suarez, waits for press conference to begin
6. Venezuelan migrants held in El Salvador waiting for press conference to begin
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Arturo Suarez, Venezuelan migrant previously held in El Salvador:
"We are grateful (U.S. District Judge James Boasberg) for taking his time. It is my understanding that he tried to stop the planes but he couldn't so at least this is a precedent. The world knows that what they did with us was an injustice"

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Caracas, Venezuela - 22 July 2025
8. Paola Paiva, Suarez's sister, standing on the street as intelligence police patrol driving Suarez stops
9. Various of family hugging Suarez

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: La Guaira, Venezuela - 18 July 2025
10. Various of Venezuelan migrants walking at runway after coming off airplane
STORYLINE:
Men who were part of the group of Venezuelan migrants that the United States government transferred earlier this year to a prison in El Salvador demanded justice on Friday, days after a federal judge in Washington ruled that the Trump administration must give them legal due process.

During a news conference in Caracas, organized by Venezuela’s government, the men said they hoped that legal organizations could push their claims in court.

The Venezuela government had previously said it had retained legal services for the immigrants.

One of the migrants, singer Arturo Suarez, thanked the judge for his ruling, telling the reporters at the news conference that "the world knows that what they did with us was an injustice".

On Monday, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government to give legal due process to the 252 Venezuelan men, either by providing court hearings or returning them to the U.S.

The ruling opens a path for the men to challenge the Trump administration’s allegation that they are members of the Tren de Aragua gang and subject to removal under an 18th century wartime law.

The judge ordered the U.S. government to come up with a plan within two weeks for the men, who have since been returned to Venezuela as part of a prisoner swap.

It’s the latest development in a case that’s been a legal flashpoint in the administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigration.

It started in March, after Trump invoked an 18th century wartime law to send Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.




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