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Shackled and paraded, now home: El Salvador frees 252 Venezuelan migrants in US prisoner swap

Shackled and paraded, now home: El Salvador frees 252 Venezuelan migrants in US prisoner swap

Malay Mail6 days ago
MAIQUETÍA (Venezuela), July 19 — Hundreds of Venezuelans swept up in Donald Trump's immigration dragnet were abruptly freed from a maximum security Salvadoran jail and sent home as part of a prisoner swap yesterday, ending a months-long high-profile ordeal.
The 252 men were accused — without evidence — of being gang members and flown to the notorious CECOT 'anti-terror' jail last March.
There, they were shackled, shorn and paraded before cameras — becoming emblematic of Trump's immigration crackdown and drawing howls of protest.
Yesterday, after months of legal challenges and political stonewalling, the men arrived at an airport near Caracas.
The Trump administration said they were released in exchange for 10 Americans or US residents held in Venezuela, and an undefined number of 'political prisoners.'
'Today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country,' Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on social media.
The migrants' return to Venezuela sparked tearful celebrations from family members who had heard nothing from them in months.
'I don't have words to explain how I feel!' said Juan Yamarte. 'My brother (Mervin) is back home, back in Venezuela.'
Mervin's mother told AFP she could not contain her happiness. 'I arranged a party and I'm making a soup,' she said.
The men had been deported from the US under rarely used wartime powers and denied court hearings.
Exiled Salvadoran rights group Cristosal believes that just seven of the 252 men had criminal records.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro thanked Trump for 'the decision to rectify this totally irregular situation.'
'High price'
In the US, families were also excited to see their loved ones return. One had been imprisoned for nearly a year.
Global Reach, an NGO that works for wrongly detained Americans, said one of the men freed was 37-year-old Lucas Hunter, held since he was 'kidnapped' by Venezuelan border guards while vacationing in Colombia in January.
'We cannot wait to see him in person and help him recover from the ordeal,' it quoted his younger sister Sophie Hunter as saying.
Uruguay said one of its citizens, resident in the US, was among those liberated after nine months in Venezuelan detention.
Another plane arrived at Maiquetía airport earlier yesterday from Houston with 244 Venezuelans deported from the US and seven children who Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said had been 'rescued from the kidnapping to which they were being subjected.'
The children were among 30 who Caracas says remained in the US after their Venezuelan parents were deported.
Clamping down on migrants is a flagship pursuit of Trump's administration, which has ramped up raids and deportations.
It has agreed with Maduro to send undocumented Venezuelans back home, and flights have been arriving near daily also from Mexico, where many got stuck trying to enter the US.
Official figures show that since February, more than 8,200 people have been repatriated to Venezuela from the US and Mexico, including some 1,000 children.
The Venezuelans detained in El Salvador had no right to phone calls or visits, and their relatives unsuccessfully requested proof of life.
Bukele had CECOT built as part of his war on criminal gangs, but he agreed to receive millions of dollars from the US to house the Venezuelans there.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have denounced the detentions as a violation of human rights. — AFP
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Trump: Australia will get ‘so much' of our ‘magnificent beef', others that refuse are ‘on notice'
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Trump: Australia will get ‘so much' of our ‘magnificent beef', others that refuse are ‘on notice'

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Indian firm shipped explosives to Russia despite US warnings
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Indian firm shipped explosives to Russia despite US warnings

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Archbishop Pérez, son of migrants, tells migrants: ‘You are not alone'
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Archbishop Pérez, son of migrants, tells migrants: ‘You are not alone'

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Archbishop Pérez's letter — posted in both English and Spanish to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's media outlet — adds to a growing chorus from U.S. Catholic prelates who have expressed grave concerns over the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration to the U.S. Need Policy Blending 'Dignity, Mercy, Justice' The archbishop's reflection follows a Jan. 30 statement in which he called for 'serious and carefully thought out immigration policy reforms … that will blend dignity, mercy, and justice.' The archbishop assured migrants that 'the Church is a community of faith, and the divine person of Christ, who was forced to flee his homeland as a child, holds you in his compassionate arms.' Among those who have so far spoken out against the Trump administration's iron-fisted approach are Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. military archdiocese, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who called for prayer and for restraint amid violent clashes in that city over immigration arrests; Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, whose archdiocese is home to large expatriate Haitian and Cuban communities and who recently led prayer outside the controversial Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention facility located in the Venice Diocese; and San Diego Bishop Michael M. Pham, who was born in Vietnam and fled to the U.S. as a 13-year-old refugee in 1980, along with his older sister and younger brother. 'Produced a Great Deal of Fear' 'Recent news reports detailing the arrest of immigrants throughout the country, including the Philadelphia region, have produced a great deal of fear and unleashed a broad range of other emotions. These events have impacted the migrant community in deeply troubling ways,' said Archbishop Pérez in his July 23 letter. 'I am witnessing your sorrow with great sadness and concern as are people of goodwill from all walks of life,' he said, adding, 'As the son of immigrants, I have found recent events particularly heartbreaking.' The 64-year-old archbishop said in a February 2020 Spanish-language interview with Telemundo 62, 'Yo digo que fui hecho en Cuba, pero desempaquetado en Miami' ('I was conceived in Cuba, but born (literally, 'unpacked') in Miami'). His parents, David and Emma Pérez, had fled Cuba, where in 1959 the dictatorship of President Fulgencio Batista fell to what would become the first communist regime in the Western hemisphere under Premier Fidel Castro. Shortly after their arrival in Miami, the Pérez family relocated to northern New Jersey, where the future archbishop, born in 1961, was raised. Catholic Social Teaching on Immigration In his July 23 letter, Archbishop Pérez highlighted Catholic social teaching on immigration, which seeks to balance three interrelated principles — the right of people to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation's duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also instructs that 'the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin' (Catechism, 2241). 'As Catholics, we believe our eternal homeland is heaven, and that as citizens of earth, the dignity of every person means everyone should have a safe place to live, with the opportunity to work for a just wage,' said Archbishop Pérez in his pastoral letter. 'Many of you came to the United States seeking new opportunities far away from oppressive regimes and endured difficult and dangerous circumstances to start life anew here.' 'Your Presence, Contributions Are a Blessing' He said, 'Your presence and your contributions to society through hard work and upright living are a blessing to our country and to our Church.' 'No one should be forced to live in fear of unjust persecution,' he said. 'I encourage you to remain close with the members of your parish communities and the priests who provide you with pastoral care,' said Archbishop Pérez. That exhortation comes as at least two U.S. dioceses have publicly addressed fears of immigration arrests at parishes. Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino, California, issued a July 8 dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation for those with a genuine fear of ICE raids. In May, the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, released a message, disseminated to diocesan parishes, reminding the faithful that according to the church's own teaching and canon law, they are not required to attend Sunday Mass if they fear for their well-being. Advocating for Protection of Life, Liberty 'We recognize that our country is rightly safeguarded by law enforcement officials. They uphold the common good by protecting all of us from human trafficking, the exploitation of children, and any other criminal offense against human dignity,' wrote Archbishop Pérez. 'At the same time, we strongly advocate for immigration policies that guarantee the protection of life, liberty, and property of all those who call the United States of America home, natural born citizens and those working toward citizenship alike.' Noting that 'there is no instant solution to the challenges pervading immigration policy,' he said, 'I urge everyone in parish communities to unite through prayer and social unity with the immigrant faithful under the leadership of parish pastors.' Archbishop Pérez concluded his letter with a prayer for migrants and for the nation as a whole. 'The Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph cared for the child Jesus in the mystery of the flight into Egypt and their intercession is with us today. I pray with you and for you that you experience the protection of God,' he said. 'May our Lord bless our country with peace and inspire comprehensive immigration reform that respects the law and provides meaningful opportunities for all those who wish to call the United States of America their home.'--OSV news

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