A controversial deportation program aimed at the alleged members of the gang has become the last point of inflammation in the broad repression of immigration of President Donald Trump, since civil rights defenders warn about the violations of due process and the questionable deportations.
Among those trapped in the Mira is Alessandro Paredes, a 19 -year -old Venezuelan migrant in northern Texas. After surrendering for allegedly aiming at someone in South Carolina, Paredes was arrested by the immigration authorities before their weapons position could break through the Court.
The Trump administration said he is a member of a gang in the country illegally, an accusation that Paredes denied.
“We are forced to sign documents … saying that we are part of a gang,” Paredes told ABC News of Detention.
The National Security Department (DHS) declined to comment on his case.
Paredes fears being deported to Cecot, a prison in El Salvador where hundreds of other Venezuelans face similar accusations have been sent in recent weeks. A decision of the last minute Supreme Court temporarily blocked wall deportation, ruling that he and others deserve due process.
The Venezuelan migrant Alessandro Paredes spoke with ABC News.
ABC News
“This is not doing the law, this is totally illegal and is out of nowhere,” said Paredes about the effort to deport it.
The case exemplifies the aggressive approach of the Trump administration for the application of immigration in its first 100 days. On the day of its inauguration, Trump issued executive orders by increasing deportations and ending humanitarian probation programs established under former President Joe Biden.
After that, the DHS made raids aimed at alleged gang members at the same time that military reinforcements were sent to strengthen the southern border.
The most controversial movement of the Administration occurred in mid -March, when Trump invoked the 1798 alien enemies law, a dark law that allows presidential deportation powers when there is an “invasion” threatened from the US territory.
This led to hundreds of being deported to Cecot, despite judicial orders to change deportation flights. Some civil rights lawyers argue that policies violate US law.
“The Trump administration has not only surpassed the legal line, but has had a good time,” the lawyer of the American Union of Civil Libertads (ACLU), to ABC News, told ABC News. “Many of the policies are only breaking the laws that Congress has approved.”
The application of immigration and customs of the United States, in coordination with customs and border protection of the United States, helps the deportation of migrants at the Biggs army airfield, Fort Bliss, Texas, on February 7, 2025.
Sergeant Walker Pino/Army of the USA.
But there is no doubt that Trump’s policies have had a surprising impact on the southern border. After reaching the maximum of all time again and again during the Biden administration, the border crossings have become almost record minimums since the inauguration, as the statistics show, and the supporters of the administration accredit the deterrent effect.
“President Trump is responsible for the change in our southern border,” Julie Kirschner, executive director of the American Imigration Reform Federation (Feria) told ABC News. “He has sent the message around the world that if you come here illegally, there will be consequences.”
However, there are also growing concerns about unfair deportations and removals of people without a criminal record.
An ABC news survey shows divided Americans, with a 46% approval of Trump’s immigration management, while 53% disapprove. Most policies face continuous legal challenges, and some experts warn about a possible constitutional crisis on the resistance of the administration to judicial orders, including their possible challenge of the order to change deportation flights.
The future of policies remains uncertain since they depend largely on the executive actions that a future administration could be reversed without Congress actions. For now, migrants as walls remain in limbo.
“We just want justice, we are human, we have human rights and we are fighting for it,” said Paredes. “We do not deserve to take us to a country that is not even ours. We just want to return.”
