About 90% of Migrants Deported to El Salvador Had No US Criminal Record
- Men were accused of ties to Tren de Aragua criminal gang
- US court records show just a few charges for serious crimes
Alleged gang members arrive in El Salvador by plane in a photo released by El Salvador Presidency, on March 16.
Source: El Salvador Presidency/Anadolu/Getty Images
Trump administration officials have described the men deported to El Salvador prisons last month as “the worst of the worst,” suggesting they were gang members involved in murder, rape and kidnapping.
The reality is that of 238 migrants — mostly Venezuelan — that officials accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang and expelled to the Central American country in mid-March, just a small fraction had ever been charged with serious crimes in the US.