A Salvadoran man was beaten and suffered psychological torture after being wrongly deported from the United States to a notorious prison in El Salvador, his lawyers said in a court filing.Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, 30, was summarily deported to the maximum security CECOT prison in El Salvador in March as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.Justice Department lawyers later admitted that Abrego Garcia, who is married to a US citizen, was wrongly removed due to an “administrative error.”He was brought back to the United States last month to face human smuggling charges in the southern state of Tennessee.In a filing with a US District Court in Maryland, where Abrego Garcia resided until his deportation, his lawyers provided details about his treatment at the Salvadoran prison.”He was subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival at CECOT, including but not limited to severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, and psychological torture,” they said.When he arrived, Abrego Garcia and other detainees were greeted by a prison official who reportedly said: “Welcome to CECOT. Whoever enters here doesn’t leave.”He was forced to strip and “kicked in the legs with boots and struck on his head and arms.”His head was shaved and he was struck with wooden batons while being frog-marched to a cell, leaving him with bruises all over his body.”Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion,” his lawyers said. “During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself.”The prisoners were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows and bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day.His lawyers said Abrego Garcia lost 31 pounds (14 kilograms) during his first two weeks in prison.Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, denied the claims. “The man wasn’t tortured, nor did he lose weight. In fact, photos show he gained weight while in detention,” he said Thursday in a post on X. “Apparently, anything a criminal claims is accepted as truth by the mainstream media and the crumbling Western judiciary.”Abrego Garcia was among a group of 238 Venezuelans and 23 Salvadorans deported to El Salvador by the United States on March 15.The Trump administration invoked an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA), to justify the removal of the Venezuelans, accusing them of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang involved in an “invasion” of the United States.The US Supreme Court blocked further deportations under the AEA in May, saying the deported migrants were not being given enough time to legally contest their removal.Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.His lawyers in Tennessee have taken the unusual step of asking a judge to delay his release from prison ahead of his trial on the human smuggling charges, fearing he could be taken into custody by federal immigration agents and deported again.
A Salvadoran man was beaten and suffered psychological torture after being wrongly deported from the United States to a notorious prison in El Salvador, his lawyers said in a court filing.Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, 30, was summarily deported to the maximum security CECOT prison in El Salvador in March as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants.Justice Department lawyers later admitted that Abrego Garcia, who is married to a US citizen, was wrongly removed due to an “administrative error.”He was brought back to the United States last month to face human smuggling charges in the southern state of Tennessee.In a filing with a US District Court in Maryland, where Abrego Garcia resided until his deportation, his lawyers provided details about his treatment at the Salvadoran prison.”He was subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival at CECOT, including but not limited to severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, and psychological torture,” they said.When he arrived, Abrego Garcia and other detainees were greeted by a prison official who reportedly said: “Welcome to CECOT. Whoever enters here doesn’t leave.”He was forced to strip and “kicked in the legs with boots and struck on his head and arms.”His head was shaved and he was struck with wooden batons while being frog-marched to a cell, leaving him with bruises all over his body.”Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion,” his lawyers said. “During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself.”The prisoners were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows and bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day.His lawyers said Abrego Garcia lost 31 pounds (14 kilograms) during his first two weeks in prison.Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, denied the claims. “The man wasn’t tortured, nor did he lose weight. In fact, photos show he gained weight while in detention,” he said Thursday in a post on X. “Apparently, anything a criminal claims is accepted as truth by the mainstream media and the crumbling Western judiciary.”Abrego Garcia was among a group of 238 Venezuelans and 23 Salvadorans deported to El Salvador by the United States on March 15.The Trump administration invoked an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA), to justify the removal of the Venezuelans, accusing them of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang involved in an “invasion” of the United States.The US Supreme Court blocked further deportations under the AEA in May, saying the deported migrants were not being given enough time to legally contest their removal.Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.His lawyers in Tennessee have taken the unusual step of asking a judge to delay his release from prison ahead of his trial on the human smuggling charges, fearing he could be taken into custody by federal immigration agents and deported again.
