Then, on Thursday, armed officers showed up at their home, arrested them and took them to a Texas detention center, Mervin Yamarte, 29, told his mother by phone. The family members do not know their charges, and the men's names do not appear in federal, state or local criminal court records. What happened next horrified their families. Yamarte said they were asked to sign deportation papers and agreed, thinking that they would soon be back with their children and loved ones in Venezuela. But a day later, his mother saw a jarring video released by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele showing alleged gang members being violently pulled off planes from the United States and dragged to a mega-prison notorious for allegations of human rights abuses. Mercedes Yamarte spotted her son. He appears for only a second, but she has no doubt it is him. He is kneeling and wearing a ripped black shirt. His head has been shaved. An officer stands behind him. He appears to be wincing. "I didn't have words," Mercedes Yamarte said Monday, her voice strained. "I couldn't speak."
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