Despite the blizzard of commentary involving the government’s recent invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to my knowledge almost no one seems to have made a seemingly obvious legal (and moral) point. Sending alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang to CECOT, a maximum security prison in El Salvador, constitutes punishment, and therefore cannot be imposed without trial under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250425113324/https://www.justsecurity.org/110679/deportation-cecot-punishment/