60 Minutes Set to Feature Segment on Trump Deportations After December’s Change
60 Minutes will feature a segment on deportations by the Trump administration to CECOT, a notorious prison in El Salvador, four weeks after it was initially removed from the broadcast by CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss.
The segment is set to run in the network’s Sunday evening lineup.
A spokesperson for CBS News stated, “CBS News leadership has always been committed to airing the 60 Minutes CECOT piece as soon as it was ready. Tonight, viewers get to see it, along with other important stories, all of which speak to CBS News’ independence and the power of our storytelling.”
The segment was originally set to air on December 21 but was postponed just hours before the broadcast.
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Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi later expressed her objections via email to staff following the segment’s removal. She characterized the decision not as an editorial choice, but as a “political” one, reflecting corporate interference.
Alfonsi stated that the piece had undergone five screenings and was cleared by both the standards and practices team and network attorneys. “It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision; it is a political one,” she remarked.
In her note, Alfonsi suggested the segment was withdrawn due to the administration’s refusal to participate. “We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver destined to kill the story,” she wrote.
However, Weiss informed staff the following day that she believed the story was “not ready.”
“We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera,” she explained, presumably referencing a Trump administration official capable of addressing the deportations.
“We need to prioritize our viewers. Not the listing schedule or anything else. That’s my north star, and I hope it’s yours, too,” Weiss added.
The segment includes interviews with Venezuelan deportees who were sent to CECOT by the Trump administration last year.
According to the segment’s log line provided by the network, “Last year, the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, a country most had no ties to, claiming they were terrorists. This unusual move sparked an ongoing legal battle, and ten months later, the U.S. government still has not released the names of all those deported and placed in CECOT, one of El Salvador’s harshest prisons. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi speaks with some of the now released deportees, who describe the brutal and torturous conditions they endured inside CECOT.” Oriana Zill de Granados produced the segment.
The upcoming 60 Minutes broadcast will also present a report from Cecilia Vega on clashes between ICE officers and Minneapolis residents during protests over the shooting of Renee Good, alongside a feature on the Australian saltwater crocodile by Holly Williams.
The unaired segment was made available online on December 22, just a day after its initial air date. Following its withdrawal, Global TV, the Canadian outlet airing 60 Minutes, mistakenly featured the segment on its app before it was promptly taken down.
In the segment, Alfonsi noted that the Department of Homeland Security “declined our request for an interview” and referred questions regarding the prison to the El Salvadoran government, which did not respond.
Among those interviewed in the segment posted online was Luis Munoz Pinto, who recounted experiences of being beaten and sexually assaulted. He stated that he had been detained by customs officers while awaiting asylum proceedings and had no prior criminal history.
The report referenced statistics from Human Rights Watch, indicating that nearly half of those sent to the prison by the U.S. had no criminal record. In the segment, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi mentioned that 60 Minutes reviewed Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, corroborating Human Rights Watch’s findings.
CNN was the first to report on the segment’s planned airing on Sunday evening.
