At Least 50 Imprisoned Migrants Were In US Legally

The Hill reports:

At least 50 Venezuelan men who were sent to a notorious Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration had immigrated to the U.S. legally, a review by the Libertarian Cato Institute found. The Monday report reviewed data for just a fraction of the men sent to the prison for whom immigration records are available.

“The government calls them all ‘illegal aliens.’ But of the 90 cases where the method of crossing is known, 50 men report that they came legally to the United States, with advanced US government permission, at an official border crossing point,” Cato wrote in its report.

That figure is in line with broader statistics for Venezuelan migrants, as many came as refugees or through a parole program established by the Biden administration that provided two years of work permits to those who could secure a U.S.-based sponsor.

Read the full article.

Cato published my review of the ~240 Venezuelans the US government renditioned 2 months ago to Salvador’s notorious prison. We identified FIFTY who came legally, never violated any immigration law, but are imprisoned at the US government’s request and at US taxpayer expense. pic.twitter.com/g0IKTmY7TE

— David J. Bier (@David_J_Bier) May 19, 2025