ProPublica on Instagram: “The Trump administration knew the vast majority of 238 Venezuelan immigrants it sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the United States before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to data obtained by ProPublica, @texas_tribune and Venezuelan media outlets @cazamosfakenews and @ari_movil. The records, from the Department of Homeland Security, have not been previously reported. President Donald Trump and his aides have branded the Venezuelans as “rapists,” “savages,” “monsters” and “the worst of the worst.” When multiple news organizations disputed those assertions with reporting that showed many of the deportees did not have criminal records, the administration doubled down. It said that its assessment of the deportees was based on a thorough vetting process that included looking at crimes committed both inside and outside the United States. “I think the administration wants to characterize this as a grand effort that’s promoting public safety,” said a former ICE official. But “even some of the government’s own data demonstrates there is a gap between the rhetoric and the reality,” he said, referring to the internal data we obtained. 🔗 Tap the link in bio for the full story. 📸 Photos on slides 1, 7 and 9 by @adriana.loureiro for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune”