At least 200 people have been either murdered or abused and sexually assaulted after the US deported them back to El Salvador as US President Donald Trump continues crackdown on “illegal aliens.”
The Human Rights Watch has documented 138 cases of murder as well as 70 cases of abuse or sexual assault so far, according a report released Wednesday.
Upon deportation ranging from 2013 to 2019, the victims were exposed to gang members, police forces, soldiers, death squads or their own former partners.
“In many cases the US is putting Salvadorans in harm’s way in circumstances where it knows or should know that harm is likely,” said the HRW. “No government, UN agency, or nongovernmental organization has systematically monitored what happens to deported persons once back in El Salvador. This report begins to fill that gap.”
The rights group further detailed three cases to “illustrate the range of harms,” inflicted on the Salvadorans, about 1.2 million of whom are non-citizens in the United States.
During the State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump again stressed combating refugees and asylum seekers.
“Tragically, there are many cities in America where radical politicians have chosen to provide sanctuary for these criminal illegal aliens. In sanctuary cities, local officials order police to release dangerous criminal aliens to prey upon the public, instead of handing them over to ICE to be safely removed,” he said.
President Trump welcomes Jody Jones, who's brother Rocky was killed by an illegal immigrant released under California's sanctuary law.
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 5, 2020
He calls on Congress to pass legislation allowing Americans to sue sanctuary cities and states.#SOTU pic.twitter.com/zf08qrX6bC
The president exemplified his point with the alleged rape and murder of 92-year-old Maria Fuertes in New York City by a 21-year-old illegal immigrant.
“The killer had been previously arrested for assault, but under New York sanctuary policies, he was set free,” Trump said. “If the city had honored ICE’s detainer request, his victim would still be alive today.”