Debates over President Donald Trump’s hardline migration policies are focused on the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, to some a ruthless transnational criminal organization and to others the pretext for an overhyped anti-migrant narrative.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sent 11,000 soldiers to storm the Tocorón Prison in the northern state of Aragua. But they were not dispatched to quell a riot. The troops were taking back control of the prison from a powerful gang that had turned it into something of a resort,

The deportation of 261 Venezuelans, including suspected members of the gang, was carried out on Saturday. By the time a federal court halted the move, two planes carrying immigrants had already left the country.