Abstract
Several of our colleagues have already provided excellent analyses of the fast-evolving legal and factual questions presented by President Donald Trump’s pretextual and abusive invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to transfer to El Salvador 238 Venezuelan men who it alleges are members of the Tren de Aragua gang. We are writing to flag a separate issue that this case has created, one that applies to anyone removed from the United States under any authority: the administration is sending people to a country where there is a quite significant risk they will be abused. Whatever the authority the administration might claim over their removal, the United States is nevertheless bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the removal or transfer of human beings under such conditions. In sending the men at issue in this case to detention in El Salvador, a country and prison system with a known history of torture and other serious human rights violations, in addition to the facts that are already emerging about their treatment, the Trump administration has plainly violated the prohibition on refoulement.
Document Type
Op-ed
Publication Date
3-20-2025
Source Publication
Just Security
Keywords
Alien Enemies Act, Convention Against Torture (CAT), courts, El Salvador, executive branch, Immigration, immigration detention, non-refoulement, torture, Trump administration second term, Venezuela
Disciplines
Courts | International Law | Law | President/Executive Department
Recommended Citation
Ingber, Rebecca and Roehm, Scott, "The Trump Administration’s Recent Removals to El Salvador Violate the Prohibition on Transfer to Torture" (2025). Faculty Online Publications. 135.
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/faculty-online-pubs/135
