SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Lawyers hired by the Venezuelan government filed legal action Monday in El Salvador aimed at freeing the 238 Venezuelans deported by the United States who are being held in a Salvadoran maximum-security prison.

Jaime Ortega, who says he represents 30 of the imprisoned Venezuelans, said that they filed the habeas corpus petition with the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber. He said that by extension they requested that it be applied to all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.

The maneuver essentially compels the government to prove someone’s detention was justified.

The Salvadoran government has been silent about the status of the Venezuelan prisoners since the U.S. government sent them more than a week ago, despite a U.S. federal judge’s verbal order to turn the planes around.

The Trump administration is using an 18th-century wartime law to justify sending the Venezuelans, who it says were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which the administration declared an invading force.

previous coverage

• Venezuela to resume repatriation of migrants after deal with US, official says
• Pentagon reviews plans to cut troops handling migrants at Guantanamo by as much as half
• US prepares to deport about 300 alleged gang members to El Salvador
• Venezuela to resume deportation flights from the US
• Deportation flights using military aircraft expected to continue despite pause, general says
• Venezuela regime is giving a warm welcome to deportees from US — except for dissidents