Trump shipped them to El Salvador. Their families say their only crime was a tattoo.

Venezuelan migrant Jefferson José Laya Freites , 33 , was due in court for a pending asylum-and-detention hearing.

His wife believed he'd been transferred to Texas , then shipped to a notorious Salvadoran prison.

There's little evidence to support the administration's contention that large numbers of deportees are members of a Venezuelan prison gang.

Law enforcement officials say they've arrested fewer than 30 people with Tren de Aragua connections in the U.S. The group grew out of the prison system in Venezuela and became one of the most violent groups in that country.

A USA TODAY investigation last year found that law enforcement officials across the country view them as a fledgling group trying to establish a foothold in the United States .

Judge James Boasberg last weekend tried to temporarily block deportation flights while a case was litigated, then ordered government attorneys into court the next day to explain why they defied his orders.

Lawyers for Venezuelans cited three flights that might have violated his Saturday evening ruling.

One of the flights that took off a few minutes after the judge’s written order posted at 7:26 p.m. Saturday carried no deportees under the Alien Enemies Act .