Kilmar Abrego Garcia Says He Was Beaten, Tortured And Terrorized In El Salvadorian Prison

Early last month, we reported that Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to a detention center in El Salvador by the brazenly unapologetic Trump administration, had finally been returned to the U.S., only to face an indictment on federal smuggling charges that, according to Abrego Garcia’s attorney (and any objective observer), appears to be an attempt by the Justice Department to justify the White House’s actions.

Well, now, Abrego Garcia is speaking publicly about his experience in El Salvador’s mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where he said he and other inmates were subjected to daily beatings, torture, terror and substandard living conditions, according to court documents filed Wednesday..

From the Associated Press:

He said he was kicked and hit so often after arrival that by the following day, he had visible bruises and lumps all over his body. He said he and 20 others were forced to kneel all night long and guards hit anyone who fell.

Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland when he was mistakenly deported and became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The new details of Abrego Garcia’s incarceration in El Salvador were added to a lawsuit against the Trump administration that Abrego Garcia’s wife filed in Maryland federal court after he was deported.

The Trump administration has asked a federal judge in Maryland to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that it is now moot because the government returned him to the United States as ordered by the court.

In the new court documents, Abrego Garcia said detainees at CECOT “were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows, bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day, and minimal access to sanitation.”

He said prison officials told him repeatedly that they would transfer him to cells with people who were gang members who would “tear” him apart. Abrego Garcia said he saw others in nearby cells violently harm each other and heard screams from people throughout the night.

As previously reported, President Donald Trump and his administration violated a 2019 court order barring the removal of Abrego Garcia to El Salvador due to credible fears of gang persecution based on credible evidence that MS-13 gang members had already targeted him and his family. Instead of simply admitting their mistake, Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi have been on a campaign to portray Albrego Garcia as an MS-13 member himself. Trump even went as far as to present an image of the tattoos on Abrego Garcia’s fingers with the letters and numbers “M,” “S,” “1” and “3” photoshopped over each knuckle. (Trump, our “stable genius” of a president, didn’t seem to understand that the letters and numbers were, indeed, photoshopped.) Experts on gang membership have consistently reported that the tattoos on Abrego Garcia’s hand are largely unremarkable and that there is no evidence that they are gang-affiliated.

As for the new (and suspiciously convenient) indictment against him, Bondi portrayed Abrego Garcia as a central figure in an “international smuggling ring.” Interestingly enough, sources close to the case claimed the indictment prompted the resignation of Ben Schrader, a respected federal prosecutor out of Tennessee, who allegedly stepped down over concerns that the prosecution was being pursued for political reasons, not legal merit.

Here’s what we reported on that previously:

Indeed, the government’s narrative has been riddled with inconsistencies. When Abrego Garcia was stopped in Tennessee in 2022 for a traffic violation — in a vehicle with eight undocumented passengers — he was released with a warning, not arrested. Three years later, that same incident is being used as part of the foundation of the indictment, despite no charges being filed at the time. Federal agents reportedly traced the vehicle’s ownership to Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, a convicted felon who later told investigators that Abrego Garcia was hired for migrant transport jobs — claims the defense has not yet had a chance to confront in court.

Whether Abrego Garcia is ultimately found guilty or not, we should all be concerned that he was possibly tortured and terrorized inside a prison he was never supposed to be sent to by an administration that is doing its best to avoid any accountability whatsoever.  

SEE ALSO:

The Great Diversion: Kilmar Abrego Garcia Returned To Face Human Smuggling Charges

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Wrongful Deportation Is More About Individual Rights Than Trump’s Foreign Policy

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