Skip to main content
General Strike Anniversary
Deportation as a business model
Under Trump, the hunt for migrants has reopened — resulting in a mass deportation of innocent Venezuelans to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. MARC VANDEPITTE tells the story of 24-year-old barber Francisco Casique whose tattoos and country of origin were enough to make him disappear behind bars without trial
HUMAN RIGHTS OUTRAGE: Thousands of Venezuelans march in Caracas on March 18 with banner: ‘Migrating is not a crime; sanctioning a people is,’ in support of their compatriots who were deported to El Salvador

SINCE Donald Trump returned to the White House, he has reopened the hunt for migrants.

Based on a law from 1798, hundreds of Venezuelans were recently deported to El Salvador, where they are imprisoned in the notorious mega-prison CECOT.

Among them is Francisco Javier Garcia Casique, a 24-year-old barber from Maracay, Venezuela. No criminal record, no charges, no trial. Just a few tattoos — and the bad luck of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong passport.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
People repair a roof in a makeshift a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, May 5, 2025
Caribbean / 13 May 2025
13 May 2025

While Trump threatens to send Haitian gang leaders to El Salvador's terror prison, DANNY SHAW reveals how these paramilitary groups are merely symptoms of US-backed neocolonial rule — the real terrorists are the CIA and international actors arming desperate youth to traumatise an unarmed population

Pro-government supporters hold up signs with the image of Maikelys Espinoza, a 2-year-old in US custody whose parents were deported separately, at a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, May 1, 2025
Latin America / 10 May 2025
10 May 2025

Calls have been made for the return to Venezuela of a two-year-old girl currently being held in the US, after being separated from her family by immigration officials, reports SUSAN GREY