Family separations are back — and happening in the shadows.
The Trump administration is once again tearing children from their parents, not just at the border but across the U.S. Leaked records, firsthand accounts, and legal filings reveal a chilling strategy: coerce deportation by threatening — or carrying out — family separation.
Since 2022, El Salvador’s state of exception has led to mass detentions and severe overcrowding in prisons. In this context, corruption has become systemic: families of detainees are forced to provide “donations” — including money, medicine, food, and supplies — in exchange for visits or information about their loved ones. Cases documented by Cristosal reveal that these practices are widespread, coercive, and institutionalized, turning basic human rights into commodities. The hidden business of the prison system exploits the desperation of families, perpetuates abuse, and erodes the rule of law.
Cristosal full length report: here
The 2016 Peace Accords were historic. Thousands of armed combatants with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were demobilized and enrolled in reincorporation centers (Territorial Training and Reincorporation Spaces) across the country.
But the violence by illegal armed organizations against the ex-combatants has been astronomical. As of late September, at least 480 ex-combatant signatories of the peace agreement have been killed, as verified by the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia. This deadly violence threatens the reintegration process for all former combatants.
In recent months, six Peace Accords signatories have been murdered in Antioquia Department alone. John Fader Santiago Galvis, 32 years-old, was an ex-combatant who had been carrying out his reincorporation process in Cocorná, Antioquia, since 2024. On September 2, he was found dead by local residents on the banks of the Cocorná River near San Antonio. On his body were multiple bullet wounds and serious burns on his skin, suggesting an attempt at cremation.
We urge that authorities in Colombia promptly enact strict governmental measures to remove armed groups from innocent and vulnerable communities in Antioquia and provide adequate protection to social leaders who are under threat, in strict accordance with their wishes.
Brazil’s digital payment system PIX has sparked a new flashpoint with the Trump administration, which accuses it of undercutting U.S. tech giants. Brazil calls the investigation a threat to its sovereignty and a broader attempt to weaken its independence, as PIX becomes a global model for reducing reliance on the U.S. financial system.
The Supreme Court has allowed immigration agents to resume “roving patrols” in Los Angeles, targeting people based on race, language, or job—despite concerns of racial profiling. This lifts a previous court order that blocked such practices for violating constitutional rights. The decision, backed by the Court’s conservative majority, has sparked backlash for endangering civil liberties, especially for Latino U.S. citizens. The broader lawsuit is still ongoing.
Venezuelan men freed from an El Salvador prison share shocking stories of abuse they suffered while being held there. After months in captivity, they describe beatings, torture, and sexual assault in terrible conditions. Their testimonies shed light on the brutal treatment they faced at the hands of Salvadoran guards, with U.S. involvement raising urgent questions about responsibility and accountability.
8. August 2025
In El Salvador, land once turned into homes by the poor is now being claimed by private companies — with the government’s backing. In the Primero de Diciembre community, families face eviction from land they’ve lived on for 20 years after a company, Quebec S.A., suddenly asserted ownership. Residents say this is part of a broader pattern under President Bukele’s development agenda, where land privatization and forced displacement are accelerating. Activists warn that the government’s state of exception is being used not just against gangs, but to silence opposition and clear the way for tourism and real estate projects — threatening the rights and livelihoods of El Salvador’s most vulnerable.
Mass deportations are raising serious human rights concerns. As governments increase the number of people being sent back to their home countries, the impact on families, communities, and individuals is devastating. This article explores the dangers and ethical issues surrounding large-scale deportations and their long-lasting effects.
A court in El Salvador acquitted eight former guerrillas on September 24, 2025, of murdering a woman during the country’s civil war. The group includes five environmental activists who played a big role in the 2017 ban on metal mining, which President Nayib Bukele pushed to repeal in December 2024. Prosecutors charged them with killing María Inés Alvarenga in August 1989, claiming they saw her as an army informant. Several NGOs called the trial a form of persecution tied to the activists’ work against mining. The five environmentalists lead the Santa Marta Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES) and fought for the mining ban amid concerns over water pollution. Critics link the case to Bukele’s moves to open the country to mining, including joining an intergovernmental mining forum in 2021 and setting up a new energy and mines directorate.
After the arrest of the five water defenders in January 2023 on politically-motivated charges, IRTF began engaging northeast Ohioans in an international solidarity campaign spanning 31 countries demanding that the bogus charges be dropped and denouncing the political motivations behind their detention given the lack of evidence presented by the Office of the Attorney General in El Salvador.
When the trial finally happened in October 2024, the water defenders were exonerated. Predictably, the attorney general appealed. The political motivation was clear. IRTF agreed with the assessment of the Salvadoran-based organization International Allies Against Metallic Mining that the criminalization of the Santa Marta 5 was part of President Bukele’s plan to roll back the hard-won national ban on metallic mining (which he did successfully in December 2024. See our RRN letter 16 SEP 2025).
The government prevailed when the acquittal was annulled by an appeals court in November 2024. A new trial was scheduled. After a few postponements, the verdict finally came down on September 24, 2025. The presiding tribunal in San Vicente found all five innocent of the charges of murder, kidnapping, and illicit association. Allies are urging the attorney general to not appeal and to stop wasting public time and money on this farce.
