Venezuelan migrants are forced to pose in front of cameras after being imprisoned in El Salvador. Photo: El Salvador presidential press.
Guacamaya, April 8, 2025. A letter signed by 23 U.S. House Representatives questioned the legality of the State Department sending migrants to El Salvador, and whether there is an agreement to pay President Nayib Bukele.
The letter, directed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was concerned with the deportation of mostly Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, where they are being imprisoned at the so-called “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT).
The members of Congress argue that “these transfers not only violate fundamental principles of international law, but they also violate U.S. laws and our nation’s commitment to human rights.”
Multiple organizations have reported torture and other human rights abuses at the CECOT. These include Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Regarding the transfer of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador specifically, NGOs and journalists have reported a complete disregard of due process by U.S. authorities, and torture and ill-treatment at the hand of Salvadorian officials.
The letter first asks Secretary Rubio if the U.S. has provided “any monetary compensation to the government of Nayib Bukele in exchange for the imprisonment of individuals transferred from the United States to CECOT in El Salvador.”
The group of representatives then also asks about which would be the U.S. authorities responsible for this transfer, if there is any legal basis for them, and how much it is costing taxpayers.
According to El Salvador’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Venezuelan citizens are being held in CECOT “pending the United States’ decision on their long-term disposition.” Referring to this, the letter also asks whether Washington DC still “maintains authority over the custody of any individual held in CECOT at U.S. taxpayer expense.”
