U.S. Judge Orders Plan to Return Migrants from Salvadoran Mega-Prison

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to produce a plan for migrants sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The order demands the U.S. government outline how it will either return the individuals to the United States or provide them with immigration hearings. The migrants were sent to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) in March. CECOT is a maximum-security "mega-prison." The judge's instruction is a direct response to legal challenges against the transfer program. Critics call the transfers unlawful and say migrants face dangerous conditions at the facility. The administration must now submit its proposed plan to the court. The order does not immediately return the migrants, but it sets a legal process in motion that could lead to their repatriation or hearings.