The U.S. Department of Justice has announced it plans to drop charges against a man is says is one of the top leaders of El Salvadorian prison gang, MS-13.
According to The Hill, the move has prompted concerns from the man’s attorney that the Trump administration could deport him to an El Salvador prison.
During a press conference last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Henrry Villatoro Santos, a 24-year-old Salvadoran national, was “one of the top” leaders of MS-13.
However, the DOJ made the move to dismiss the charges against Villatoro Santos on Wednesday, which caused his lawyer, Muhammad Elsayed, to ask for a delay in dropping the charges, noting that the Trump administration plans to place Villatoro Santos into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“The danger of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE without due process and removed to El Salvador, where he would almost certainly be immediately detained at one of the worst prisons in the world without any right to contest his removal, is substantial, both in light of the Government’s recent actions and the very public pronouncements in this particular case,” Elsayed said.
He further added that a related case in 2019 regarding the deportation of another Salvadoran national who got protection against deportation was still removed from the U.S. and sent to a El Salvador prison, which the DOJ called an “administrative error.”
“The examples of the Government depriving immigrants of basic due process have, unfortunately, become plentiful,” Elsayed wrote.
Elsayed said in a case which Venezuelans challenged the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport them, were also sent to an El Salvador prison, with officials arguing it had “no jurisdiction once the petitioners were no longer on U.S. soil.”
“The undersigned is keenly aware of the unusual nature of this motion,” Elsayed wrote. “But these are unusual times.”
