A controversial deportation program targeting alleged gang members has become the latest flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, as civil rights advocates warn of due process violations and questionable deportations.
Among those caught in the crosshairs is Alessandro Paredes, a 19-year-old Venezuelan migrant detained in North Texas. After turning himself in for allegedly pointing a pistol at someone in South Carolina, Paredes was arrested by immigration authorities before his weapons charge could make its way through court.
The Trump administration claimed he is a gang member in the country illegally — an allegation Paredes denied.
“We’re being forced to sign papers … saying we’re part of a gang,” Paredes told ABC News from detention.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to comment on his case.
Paredes fears being deported to CECOT, an El Salvador prison where hundreds of other Venezuelans facing similar accusations have been sent in recent weeks. A last-minute Supreme Court decision temporarily blocked Paredes’ deportation, ruling that he and others deserve due process.
“This is not being done by law, this is totally illegal and it’s out of the blue,” Paredes said of the effort to deport him.
The case exemplifies the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement in its first 100 days. On the day of his inauguration, Trump issued executive orders ramping up deportations and ending humanitarian parole programs established under former President Joe Biden.
After that, DHS conducted raids targeting alleged gang members around the same time military reinforcements were sent to fortify the southern border.
The administration’s most controversial move came in mid-March, when Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act — an obscure law allowing presidential deportation powers when there is a threatened “invasion” of U.S. territory.
This led to hundreds being deported to CECOT, despite court orders to turn the deportation flights around. Some civil rights attorneys argue the policies violate U.S. law.
“The Trump administration has not only pushed up to the legal line, but gone well past it,” American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer Lee Gelernt told ABC News. “Many of the policies are just flouting laws that Congress has passed.”
But there is no question Trump’s policies have had a stunning impact on the southern border. After reaching all-time highs over and over during the Biden administration, border crossings have plunged to near-record lows since the inauguration, statistics show, with the administration’s supporters crediting the deterrent effect.
“President Trump is responsible for the turnaround at our southern border,” Julie Kirschner, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told ABC News. “He has sent the message across the globe that if you come here illegally, there will be consequences.”
However, there are also mounting concerns over wrongful deportations and removals of people with no criminal records.
An ABC News poll shows Americans divided, with 46% approving of Trump’s handling of immigration while 53% disapprove. Most of the policies face ongoing legal challenges, and some experts warn of a potential constitutional crisis over the administration’s resistance to court orders — including its possible defiance of the order to turn deportation flights around.
The policies’ future remains uncertain since they rely largely on executive actions that a future administration could reverse without congressional action. For now, migrants like Paredes remain in limbo.
“We just want justice, we’re human, we have human rights, and we’re fighting for it,” Paredes said. “We don’t deserve to get taken to a country that’s not even ours. We just want to go back.”
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