WASHINGTON: US intelligence agencies rejected a claim by President Donald Trump used to justify the deportation of more than 200 Venezuelans to El Salvador, according to a declassified memo released on Monday.
The memo by the National Intelligence Council, dated April 7, shows US spy agencies do not believe Trump’s claims that the Tren de Aragua (TDA) criminal gang is linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
Trump had used an obscure wartime law — the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA) — to deport people he alleged were members of the TDA to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
“While Venezuela’s permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the memo read.
The memo aligned with intelligence findings first reported by the New York Times in March, which said US spy agencies were at odds with Trump’s claims.
A day after that report, the Justice Department announced a “criminal investigation relating to the selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information from the Intelligence Community relating to Tren de Aragua (TDA).”
“We will not tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President Trump’s agenda by leaking false information onto the pages of their allies at the New York Times,” a statement attributed to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Monday’s memo was released following a request under the Freedom of Information Act by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which provided a copy to the Times.
The Supreme Court lifted a lower court order last month blocking the deportation of undocumented migrants under the AEA, but said they must be given an opportunity to challenge their removal.
The AEA had been last used to round up Japanese-American citizens during World War II.
The Trump administration has sent more than 200 alleged TDA gang members to El Salvador, and used images of the deportees shackled and having their heads shaved in a maximum security prison as proof that it is cracking down on illegal immigration.
US authorities have provided little public evidence to support claims that all the deportees were members of TDA.
Lawyers have denounced the fact that some deportees were accused of membership because of their tattoos.