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Relatives Fight U.S. Attempts to Transfer Venezuelan Immigrants to El Salvador Prison

HeadlineApr 22, 2025

The relatives of Venezuelan immigrants jailed at the Bluebonnet ICE detention center in Texas are fighting for their release after the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from expelling them to El Salvador’s mega-prison under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. This is the brother of 28-year-old Yonathan Betancourt, one of the men at risk of being sent to CECOT.

Juan Betancourt: “My fear is that they might unjustly take him there, because my brother is not a criminal. He just has tattoos. He’s a barber, and tattoos are an art for young people, as well as coloring their hair. He has no criminal record, neither in Venezuela nor in the United States, thank God.”

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Colorado may extend a temporary restraining order preventing Trump officials from sending two Venezuelan asylum seekers to El Salvador. The men are currently jailed at the Aurora ICE Processing Center. One of the men came to the U.S. fleeing political persecution, while the other left Venezuela after two of his relatives were killed by members of the Tren de Aragua gang. But the Trump administration is now accusing them, without evidence, of being members of that gang. One of the asylum seekers has a single tattoo depicting his niece’s name; the other has tattoos that include his mother’s name, his birth year and a character from the board game Monopoly.

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