Caracas Chronicles

The U.S. government knew that the vast majority of the 238 Venezuelan migrants sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of any crime in the United States, even before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to previously undisclosed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records.

President Donald Trump and his aides have called migrants “rapists,” “savages,” “monsters,” and “the worst of the worst.” When multiple news outlets challenged those labels with reports that many of those deported lacked criminal records, the administration insisted that it had based its assessment of the deportees on meticulous vetting that included examining crimes committed both inside and outside the United States. But the government’s records, obtained by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune, and a team of journalists from Venezuela, show that only 32 of them have been convicted of crimes in the United States, most of them nonviolent, such as shoplifting or traffic violations.

Official information indicates that the government was aware that only six of the migrants had been convicted of violent crimes: four for assault, one for kidnapping, and one for weapons possession. It was also aware that 130 of the deportees had no criminal records or pending charges in the United States. In their files, they are only listed as violators of immigration laws.

Regarding crimes abroad, our review of police and justice records in the United States and the Latin American countries where the deportees previously resided found evidence of arrests or convictions in only 20 of the 238 cases. Of these, 11 were related to violent crimes such as armed robbery, assault, or murder, including the case of a man the Chilean government requested to be extradited from the United States to be tried on kidnapping and drug charges. Four others had been charged with illegal possession of firearms.

We also investigated each of the Venezuelan deportees’ cases. There may be crimes or other information about their past that we didn’t find in our investigation or the official information, which includes only minimal details about nine of them. There is no single database dedicated to crimes committed in the United States—much less abroad—that is publicly available. But everything we did find directly contradicts the U.S. government’s claims.

ProPublica and The Tribune, along with the Venezuelan media outlets Alianza Rebelde Investiga and Cazadores de Fake News, also obtained lists of alleged gang members used by Venezuelan law enforcement agencies and Interpol. These lists include 1,400 names; none of them match the names of the 238 deported individuals.

The speed of removal and imprisonment in a third country has made this one of the most consequential deportations in recent times. The legal battles over whether President Trump has the authority to deport immigrants without going through the courts could fundamentally reshape how the United States handles them—regardless of whether they reside in the country legally or illegally. U.S. officials have publicly suggested that, in order to fulfill the president’s goal of deporting millions of migrants, the government is considering suspending habeas corpus, a historic constitutional right that allows people to challenge their detention.

Hours before the migrants were boarded onto planes in Texas to be flown to El Salvador, the government justified their deportation under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, claiming—without providing any evidence—that the prison gang Tren de Aragua had infiltrated the United States with help from the Venezuelan government. It labeled the gang as a foreign terrorist organization and argued that this gave the president the authority to expel its members and detain them indefinitely in a foreign prison, where the deportees have been held for more than two months without any possibility of contacting their families or lawyers.

Lee Gelernt, a lawyer leading the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenge against the deportations, stated that these actions represent a “blatant violation of the most basic principles of due process.” According to the law, he said, a migrant who has committed a crime can be charged and deported, but “that does not mean they can be subjected to a potential life sentence in a foreign gulag.”

In response to our findings, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson replied that “ProPublica should be ashamed of serving criminal foreign illegals who are a threat,” and added that “the American people strongly support” the president’s immigration agenda.

When asked about the discrepancies between the government’s public statements about the deportees and how they are classified in its own official records, Deputy DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin repeated already-published public statements. She insisted without providing evidence that the deportees are dangerous. “These individuals characterized as ‘non-criminals’ are, in reality, terrorists, human rights violators, gang members, and more—it’s just that they don’t have a criminal record in the United States.”

Our research confirmed that at least 158 of the Venezuelans held in El Salvador have tattoos. But police sources with expertise on Tren de Aragua in the U.S., Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela told us that tattoos are not reliable indicators of gang membership.

As for the government’s claim that the Tren de Aragua gang tried to invade the country, a U.S. intelligence analysis concluded that the gang does not take orders from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence under the Trump administration, fired the authors of that report after it was made public. According to news reports, Gabbard’s office explained that she aims “to end the instrumentalization and politicization” of the intelligence community.

Our investigation focused on the 238 Venezuelans deported on March 15 to CECOT, the prison in El Salvador, whose names first appeared on a list published by CBS News. The government has also transferred dozens of other migrants there, including Kilmar Abrego García, a Salvadoran man the government admits was sent by mistake. The courts have ordered the government to process his return to the United States.

We interviewed relatives and lawyers of about a hundred deportees. Many of them had communicated with their loved ones on the morning of March 15, when the migrants believed they were being sent back to Venezuela. They were happy, excited to reunite with their families, who were planning to cook their favorite meals and organize welcome parties.

Some family members shared with us—or on social media—videos recorded in U.S. detention centers. In them, detainees say they fear being sent to Guantánamo, the U.S. facility in Cuban territory where Washington has held and tortured detainees, some of whom were suspected of planning the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Trump administration had sent planes with Venezuelan migrants there earlier this year.

None of them had any idea they were about to be sent to El Salvador.

Among them was Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, 31, who left Venezuela and his job as a youth soccer coach last July. According to his sister, Leidys Trejo Solórzano, Leonardo was going through difficult times trying to support their mother and himself, struggling to find a better job amid Venezuela’s economic collapse. He was detained in October when he showed up for an appointment with immigration authorities, reportedly because of his many tattoos, she said. These included the names of relatives, a clock, an owl, and a crown inspired, she explained, by the logo of the Real Madrid football club.

In the DHS information we obtained, there is no indication that Colmenares had any criminal record. We also found no convictions or charges against him in the United States or abroad. Trejo said her brother had never gotten into trouble and had no criminal history in Venezuela either. She described his expulsion from the United States as a kidnapping carried out by the government.

“It’s been really hard. Talking about it is difficult for me,” said Trejo, who has searched the internet for videos and photos of her brother in the prison in El Salvador. “So many nights I can’t sleep because of the anxiety.”

Internal government records indicate that, with a few exceptions, officials labeled all the deportees as members of Tren de Aragua, without offering much information on how they reached that conclusion. Court filings and documents we obtained show that the government based this classification, in part, on social media posts, associations with known gang members, and tattoos—including crowns, clocks, weapons, grenades, and the Michael Jordan Jumpman logo. Our research confirmed that at least 158 of the Venezuelans held in El Salvador have tattoos. But police sources with expertise on Tren de Aragua in the U.S., Colombia, Chile, and Venezuela told us that tattoos are not reliable indicators of gang membership.

McLaughlin, the DHS spokeswoman, stated that the Department trusted its own analysis of who belonged to the gang but would not provide supporting information.

“I think the government wants to present this as a major public safety effort in the U.S. for political reasons,” said John Sandweg, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “But even some of the government’s own information shows there’s a gap between what’s being said and the reality,” he added, referring to the internal official records we obtained.

According to those records, 67 of the deportees had pending criminal charges, though no details were provided about the alleged crimes. We found police, court, and other records on 38 of them. In some cases, their criminal history differed from what was stated in the official records. Some had already been convicted, and another was deported even after charges against him were dismissed.

Our investigation found that, as with the deportees who had prior convictions, most of the pending criminal charges were for nonviolent offenses such as shoplifting, drug possession, or traffic violations.

Six of the 67 faced pending charges for attempted murder, assault, armed robbery, firearm possession, or domestic violence. Migrant rights advocates argue that sending them to prison in El Salvador before their cases are resolved means that Trump, invoking executive authority, completely bypassed the justice system.

One example is the case of Wilker Miguel Gutiérrez Sierra, 23, who was arrested in February 2024 in Chicago on charges of attempted murder, robbery, and aggravated assault after he and three other Venezuelans allegedly assaulted a stranger on a train and stole his phone and $400. He pleaded not guilty. Gutiérrez was under electronic monitoring awaiting trial when ICE agents, in five black SUVs, arrested him on the street, according to court records. Three days later, he was sent to El Salvador.

But most of those labeled as having pending charges were facing much less serious accusations, according to the records we found. Maikol Gabriel López Lizano, 23, was arrested in Chicago in August 2023 for riding his bicycle on the sidewalk while drinking a can of beer. His partner, Cherry Flores, called his deportation a major injustice. “They shouldn’t have sent him there,” she said. “Why did they have to take him over a beer?”