Washington, March 22 (RHC)-- The anti-war and social rights organization Code Pink (Women for Peace) has condemned the illegal deportations and mass imprisonment of Venezuelans by U.S. President Donald Trump.

"The Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans constitutes an illegal, racist, and politically motivated attack on human rights," Code Pink said in a statement.

The U.S. government deported 234 Venezuelans, ignoring a federal judge's order blocking the action.

In this regard, the organization argued that "by using the Alien Enemies Act to expel any Venezuelan in the United States, classifying them as 'enemy citizens,' Venezuelans as young as 14 run the risk of being declared 'terrorists' without evidence, without trial, and without legal protection.  This is not immigration policy; it is dehumanization and kidnapping."

Code Pink explained that the U.S. government relied on a wartime legal framework that was last used to intern Japanese Americans during World War II.  It also denounced that the Trump administration signed a six million dollar agreement with the government of El Salvador to deprive deported Venezuelan citizens of their liberty for at least one year without due process, evidence, or prior trial.

“The deported migrants have not been convicted of any crime, but under the Bukele regime's mass incarceration policies, they are being sent to a prison system known for human rights abuses and more than 300 reported deaths,” Code Pink stated.

The organization warned that this is “a racist, xenophobic, and politically motivated operation designed to boost Trump's campaign rhetoric and expand his illegal offensive against immigrants.”

The organization expressed the Venezuelan government's willingness to receive its nationals and collaborate throughout the deportation process, and called for an end to the criminalization of Venezuelan migrants.

[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]