On Jan 31, 2023, El Salvador president Nayib Bukele opened a maximum security prison in Angulo, El Salvador to protect the innocent civilians from gang violence. El Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), or the Terrorist Confinement Center now holds some of the most dangerous gangs in all of El Salvador.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act. A 1798 law that grants the president powers to detain and deport non-citizens. This order declares that the U.S. is under invasion by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, according to Mother Jones.
“I think mass deportations are wrong, but if someone breaks the law, that’s another story,” sophomore Ainsley Smith said. “Everyone should have a fair chance to prove who they truly are,”
On the same day that President Trump signed the proclamation, Venezuelan native Arturo Suárez was supposed to be deported back to Venezuela, but he had no criminal record or any affiliation with gangs, according to his wife, Nathali Sánchez. She received a phone call from him when he was at a immigration detention center in Texas, saying that his flight was delayed, but she soon found out through a photo, that he was sent to CECOT. Nathali believes this was because of his visible tattoos, according to Mother Jones.
“I think it’s really unnecessary that they arrest them based on their tattoos,” sophomore Amy Gonzales said. “I think having tattoos is a form of art and a way of self expression.”
Arturo Suárez wasn’t the only Venezuelan man that was sent to El Salvador. Just recently, about 17 more Venezuelan men were sent to El Salvador based on the assumption that they are affiliated with Tren de Aragua. Multiple families with relatives that were deported to El Salvador, along with their lawyers, deny their loved ones had any affiliation with any gangs in Venezuela, according to PBS.
“People deserve to be judged by their actions, not by their appearance,” Smith said.“I also think that just because someone has a tattoo, that does not make them a criminal.”
