CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Men who were part of the group of Venezuelan migrants that the United States government transferred earlier this year to a prison in El Salvador demanded justice on Friday, days after a federal judge in Washington ruled that the Trump administration must give them legal due process.
The men told reporters in Venezuela’s capital that they hope legal organizations can push their claims in court. Their press conference was organized by Venezuela’s government, which had previously said it had retained legal services for the immigrants.
On Monday, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government to give legal due process to the 252 Venezuelan men, either by providing court hearings or returning them to the U.S. The ruling opens a path for the men to challenge the Trump administration’s allegation that they are members of the Tren de Aragua gang and subject to removal under an 18th century wartime law.
The men have repeatedly said they were physically and psychologically tortured while at the notorious Salvadoran prison.
“Today, we are here to demand justice before the world for the human rights violations committed against each of us, and to ask for help from international organizations to assist us in our defense so that our human rights are respected and not violated again,” Andry Blanco told reporters in Caracas, where roughly two dozen of the migrants gathered Friday.
Some of the men shared the daily struggles they now face — including fear of leaving their home or encountering law enforcement — as a consequence of what they said were brutal abuses while in prison. The men did not specify what justice should look like in their case, but not all are interested in returning to the U.S.
“I don’t trust them,” Nolberto Aguilar said of the U.S. government.
The men were flown to El Salvador in March. They were sent to their home country in July as part of a prisoner swap between the Trump administration and the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Camilla Fabri, Venezuelan vice minister of foreign affairs for international communications, said Maduro's government is working with a bar association in the U.S. and “all human rights organizations to prepare a major lawsuit against Trump and the United States government, so that they truly acknowledge all the crimes they have committed against” the men.
Tito Martinez, a Venezuelan migrant sent by the U.S. to El Salvador and later deported to Venezuela, walks with his family after reading a statement at a government building in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Arturo Suarez, a Venezuelan migrant sent by the U.S. to El Salvador and later deported to Venezuela, walks with his family after reading a statement at a government building in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
New England (12-3) at New York Jets (3-12)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox.
BetMGM NFL odds: Patriots by 13 1/2.
Against the spread: Patriots 9-5-1, Jets 7-7-1.
Series record: Patriots lead 76-56-1.
Last meeting: Patriots beat the Jets 27-14 on Nov. 13, 2025, at Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Last week: Patriots beat Ravens 28-24; Jets lost to Saints 29-6.
Patriots offense: overall (6), rush (16), pass (4), scoring (7t).
Patriots defense: overall (7), rush (6), pass (11), scoring (7).
Jets offense: overall (29), rush (9), pass (32), scoring (28).
Jets defense: overall (21), rush (28), pass (13), scoring (30).
Turnover differential: Patriots even; Jets minus-18.
QB Drake Maye. The second-year quarterback is serenaded almost weekly with “MVP!” chants from Patriots fans and for good reason: He enters the week first in the NFL in completion rate (70.9 percent), third in passer rating (108.5) and fourth in yards passing (3,947). He needs just 53 yards passing this week against the Jets to join Tom Brady (11 times) and Drew Bledsoe (twice) as the only New England quarterbacks to reach 4,000 in a season.
RB Breece Hall. He's 46 yards rushing away from the first 1,000-yard season of his four-year career. Hall, scheduled to become a free agent in the offseason, would become just the eighth player in franchise history to rush for at least 1,000 yards and the first since Shonn Greene had the second of his two 1,000-yard seasons in 2012. Hall would also join Chris Ivory, Thomas Jones (three times), Curtis Martin (seven times), Freeman McNeil (twice), Adrian Murrell (twice) and John Riggins. It would also mark the 19th 1,000-yard rushing season in franchise history.
Maye and the Patriots' passing offense vs. Jets' passing defense. New York has had trouble consistently putting pressure on the quarterback and the Jets' defense against the pass is shaky, with injuries and turnover in the secondary playing a large role. Maye is coming off a career-high 380 yards passing against Baltimore and could look to exploit New York's up-and-down pass defense.
Patriots: WR Kayshon Boutte (concussion), WR Mack Hollins (abdomen), LG Jared Wilson (concussion), LB Harold Landry (knee), LB Robert Spillane (ankle) and DL Khyiris Tonga (foot) were all ruled out for the game. ... RB TreVeyon Henderson started the week in the concussion protocol, but as a limited participant in the first two practices before being full on Friday. He's listed as questionable. ... Also questionable are WR DeMario Douglas (hamstring) and CB Charles Woods (foot).
Jets: QB Justin Fields (knee) was placed on season-ending injured reserve after he missed the past three games. ... Edge rusher Will McDonald (knee), DT Jay Tufele (foot) and LB Kiko Mauigoa (neck) were also placed on IR. ... TE Mason Taylor (neck) was ruled out for the game.
The Patriots have won 17 of the past 19 games in the series, including their victory at home last month. ... New York snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots in the 2023 season finale, beating New England 17-3 in Bill Belichick’s last game as coach. The Jets also won the first meeting last season 24-3 at home, but dropped the second matchup 25-22, so the Patriots have won the past two. ... The teams have faced each other three times in the playoffs, with New England holding a 2-1 edge.
The Patriots have already clinched a playoff berth, but could win the AFC East regular-season title for the first time since 2019 — ending Buffalo's five-year reign — with a win and a Bills loss or tie, or a tie and a Bills loss. ... New England is the only team to not lose on the road this season and will try to finish 8-0 away from home. The Patriots, who were also 8-0 in 2007 and 2016, can join San Francisco (1984, 1989 and 1990) as the only teams to go undefeated on the road in three seasons since 1970. ... A win will give the Patriots their eighth 13-win season in team history. Only San Francisco has more with 11. ... WR Stefon Diggs has a team-leading 869 yards receiving and needs 131 over the final two games for his seventh 1,000-yard season. It would be the first by a New England player since Julian Edelman finished with 1,117 in 2019. Diggs, coming off his fourth 100-yard game of the season, has at least five 100-yard games in a season four times in his career, most recently in 2023 (five). ... Henderson has four touchdown runs of 50-plus yards in 2025. Chris Johnson (2009, Tennessee) and Jim Brown (1963, Cleveland) are the only players with more TD runs of 50-plus yards in a single season with five. ... CB Marcus Jones has returned two punts for a touchdown this season, joining Troy Brown (2001), Irving Fryar (1985) and Mike Haynes (1976) as the only Patriots to do so. ... The Jets have lost three in a row following a stretch in which they won three out of five. They'll be looking to prevent their second straight season with two losing streaks of at least four games. ... Undrafted rookie QB Brady Cook will make his third consecutive start. In three NFL games, the former Missouri star has thrown for 527 yards and one TD with six INTs and a 59.2% completion rate. He has also been sacked 17 times. ... WR Garrett Wilson, who's on season-ending IR with a knee injury, hasn't played since Nov. 9 and last caught a pass in a game on Oct. 12 — and still leads the Jets with 395 yards receiving. Taylor is next with 369 and Hall has 332. ... Hall needs 137 yards rushing in the final two games to pass Greene for 11th place on the team's career rushing list. He'd pass Adrian Murrell for 10th if he gets 161. ... New York went 2 for 15 on third down at New Orleans. For the season, the Jets are 27th in the NFL in third down conversion rate at 35%. ... The Jets set an NFL record with their 15th straight game without an interception. ... K Nick Folk has 430 field goals, six from tying Jason Elam and Sebastian Janikowski for 10th in NFL history. ... Folk has converted 98 consecutive attempts from under 40 yards, the longest streak by any kicker over the past 40 seasons, according to Stats Pass. ... P Austin McNamara's 43.1 net average is the best by a Jets punter in a season with a minimum of 2.5 punts per game since Stats Pass began tracking the stat in 1976.
Diggs and TE Hunter Henry are Maye's favorite targets and could see plenty of success against the Jets' defense. Diggs had nine catches for 105 yards on 11 targets in the teams' meeting last month, while Henry had four receptions for 45 yards on six targets.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
New York Jets running back Breece Hall pauses before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ella Hall)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
