The Trump administration says the group should be treated as an invading force. Critics say it’s a pretext for the administration’s anti-immigrant narrative.

Trump labeled the Tren de Aragua an invading force when he invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 authority that allows the president to deport any noncitizen during wartime.

El Salvador’s Cecot mega-prison was notorious long before the Trump administration’s recent decision to deport hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members there.