San salvador: The government in El Salvador has informed UN officials that the United States is responsible for more than 200 migrants who were transferred to a mega-prison on charges of gang affiliation, according to a US media report released on Tuesday. This assertion contradicts claims by the Trump administration, which has consistently stated that the migrants sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT prison, fall under El Salvador's jurisdiction.

According to Anadolu Agency, El Salvador submitted a report to the UN Office for the High Commission of Human Rights, disputing months of statements from former President Donald Trump and his administration. The report emphasizes that the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these individuals rest with foreign authorities, in line with international agreements and the principles of sovereignty and international cooperation in criminal matters.

The report's findings were part of a court filing related to the investigation into the disappearance of four Venezuelan men allegedly sent to the prison in March. The Trump administration has not yet disclosed the identities of those transferred. El Salvador has stated that it neither arrested, detained, nor transferred the individuals but merely facilitated the use of Salvadoran prison infrastructure under a bilateral agreement.

The Trump administration employed the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), an 18th-century wartime law, to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, to El Salvador with limited due process. This action was part of a $6 million agreement between the Trump administration and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as a component of Trump's immigration crackdown.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, who filed a case in March contesting the removals under the AEA, revealed that they became aware of the agreement only last week through a victim's family. They have accused the government of withholding this information despite previous requests for related records.