At least 50 Venezuelans who were deported and sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador came to the United States legally and never violated immigration law, according to a new analysis from the libertarian Cato Institute.

The report compiled family accounts, along with entry documents and witness testimony, to determine how they crossed into the United States and what likely led to their detention.

“The government calls them all ‘illegal aliens.’ But of the 90 cases where the method of crossing is known, 50 men report that they came legally to the United States, with advanced U.S. government permission, at an official border crossing point,” the report stated.

More than 200 Venezuelans were deported to El Salvador in March following a wave of detentions and executive order

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