On March 15, the United States federal government deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be held in one of El Salvador’s most infamous prisons, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). Following his recent return to the United States and detention in a Tennessee federal detention center, Abrego Garcia reported severe psychological and physical torture during his time at CECOT.
While his description is consistent with the observations of independent journalists, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele — well-known for his strong media presence — denies the allegations, blaming the “mainstream media” and “crumbling Western judiciary.” Bukele’s comments align with a broader pattern of White House blindness to accusations of torture and unconstitutionality.
“A facility whose very design is cruelty”
Originally intended to be a rehabilitation facility, CECOT is operated by the Salvadoran government under Bukele, holding 85,000 people accused of participating in gang violence. The mass incarceration program began in a 2022 state of emergency declaration that suspended due process and ordered the immediate incarceration of thousands. Bukele has frequently posted images and videos on social media, aiming to depict the “submission” and humiliation of prisoners.
Similarly, the U.S. federal government wrongfully deported Abrego Garcia without trial or due process. In an April 10 ruling, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed an Appeals Court decision that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was illegal, especially in regards to a protective order that forbade his deportation to El Salvador. Even so, the White House continues to maintain that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang. These accusations are based on 2019 “fieldwork,” where his choice to wear a Chicago Bulls hat possibly indicated his affiliation with MS-13.
Abrego Garcia was among hundreds deported by the U.S. administration following accusations of criminal gang activity now detained at CECOT. There, conditions are bleak. From Abrego Garcia’s court filings, he reports sleep deprivation, denied access to bathrooms, and physical abuses such as beatings and being shaved with a dull razor. He has lost over 30 pounds since his recent release and return to the United States. His experiences reflect French journalist Lucas Menget’s description of the prison as a “tropical gulag.”
In 2023, the U.S. Department of State issued a report on human rights in El Salvador, highlighting the numerous instances of lack of sanitation, medical treatment, food, and potable water in El Salvador’s two dozen other jails. Salvadoran and international observers — including Cristosal, a Salvadoran human rights group — have expressed concern over the human rights abuses and systematic forms of torture that likely extend into CECOT. In the words of Cristosal executive director Noah Bullock, “CECOT is sold as a facility whose very design is cruelty, right? Like the whole prison itself is designed to reduce human life to not dying…”
“Nailing Jell-O to a wall”
As Abrego Garcia is currently detained in Tennessee on charges of smuggling illegal immigrants through the United States, he is at the epicenter of political and legal chaos. While the Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) both state that Abrego Garcia was deported due to “administrative error,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “We did not make a mistake. We have always maintained this was an individual who needed to be deported from our country.”
Immediately following Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States in June, the White House claimed reports that he would be deported yet again were “fake news.” Attorney General Pam Bondi declared on June 6 that Abrego Garcia would only be re-deported after the human trafficking trial concluded. However, on July 7, in another confusing twist, Department of Justice lawyer Jonathan Guynn outlined another plan to deport Abrego Garcia before the trial concluded.
While detained on criminal charges, Abrego Garcia has also filed a civil case against Secretary of Homeland Security Kirsti Noem and other senior Trump administration officials. Judge Paula Xinis — the judge overseeing the civil case — compared understanding the federal government’s intentions with Abrego Garcia to “nailing Jell-O to a wall,” describing the developing situation as “complete chaos.”
Fundamentally, the civil case accuses the Trump administration of operating with “disdain for the law and the legal process” as exemplified in the administration’s violation of due process rights and failure to comply with court orders. Just as Bukele refuses to acknowledge abuse and torture in CECOT, the White House continues to deny any form of wrongdoing in the case.
Due process and complicity
As El Salvador’s prisons continue to attract attention for flagrant violations of human rights and lack of due process, rights groups within the United States are calling attention to the Trump administration’s alarming turn toward lawlessness.
Abrego Garcia’s detention in CECOT was the result of a Trump administration deal to pay Bukele $6 million to imprison roughly 300 alleged gang members found in the United States. Trump similarly indicated interest in sending U.S. citizens to Salvadoran prisons while aware of their “harsh and life-threatening” conditions and systematic forms of torture. A coalition of immigrants rights groups has sued the administration over the deal on the basis of due process. As these detainees are outside of the jurisdiction of the United States, those deported to El Salvador are no longer protected by the U.S. Constitution without due process rights.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s ordeal demonstrates the inconsistency of Trump administration policy, declining compliance with the law, and increasing friendliness with political figures like Bukele, who once described himself as “the world’s coolest dictator.” As the White House increasingly seeks to operate above the United States' legal system, it flirts with authoritarianism.
As Abrego Garcia yet again faces the threat of deportation, the question remains whether the United States will reckon with the legal and moral consequences of outsourcing punishment — or whether, in pursuit of “tough-on-crime” policy, it will persist in trying to “nail Jell-O to the wall.”