Trump admin 'exposed as liars' after El Salvador makes major admission to United Nations

07 July

U.S. President Donald Trump with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on April 14, 2025 (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok/Flickr)

El Salvador has informed the United Nations that it holds no legal responsibility for the more than 200 Venezuelan men whom President Donald Trump ordered to be sent to its maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison earlier this year — a claim that directly contradicts repeated assertions from the Trump administration.

Lawyers representing the Venezuelan detainees presented a document Monday, showing that El Salvador had informed the UN it does not hold legal authority over the men.

In March, following Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, these Venezuelan nationals were removed from the United States without due process and placed in El Salvador’s CECOT. The administration justified its action by maintaining that they are legally bound by Salvadoran authority.

El Salvador’s notification to the UN, however, emphasizes that it does not currently possess jurisdiction over the detainees.

This disclosure adds significant weight to the argument that the Venezuelan detainees — more than 200 men — remain under U.S. authority and protections, despite being physically located in El Salvador.

The development led to strong reactions on social media.

Investigative reporter Jordan Fischer wrote on the social platform X: "Likely to compound DOJ's problems before Judge [Paula] Xinis: Attorneys representing a group of detainees at CECOT just filed in D.C. federal court what they say is a UN report in which El Salvador claimed the 'jurisdiction and legal responsibility' for those detainees lies w/ the U.S."

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote: "HUGE! This completely puts to lie the Trump admin’s repeated claims in court that the U.S. has no control over the people we had imprisoned without trial in El Salvador. El Salvador told the United Nations definitively that those people are being held under U.S. jurisdiction."

The X account "@TheWarMonitor" wrote: "El Salvador told the UN it let the US use its prisons under a deal, but says the US is fully responsible for who they locked up or moved. Families want answers."

"Trump, his administration and their mouthpieces, exposed as liars, yet again!" wrote Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

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