The Trump administration said it was protecting Americans unjustly held abroad. One of the rescued men, Dahud Hanid Ortiz, killed three people, according to court documents.

The U.S. State Department is not commenting on why Dahud Hanid Ortiz a man convicted of murdering three people in Madrid was among the 10 U.S. citizens released by Venezuela last week as part of a prisoner exchange.

Carlos Uzcátegui tightly hugged his sobbing wife and stepdaughter on Wednesday as the morning fog in western Venezuela lifted. The family's first embrace in more than a year finally convinced him that his nightmare inside a prison in El Salvador was over.