Lawyers of Kilmar Abrego Garcia have said in a court filing that he was brutally beaten, denied sleep, and subjected to psychological torture at a notorious mega-prison before being brought back to the United States
Garcia was wrongly deported to El Salvador by the Trump adminstration in Marcch and spent over three weeks at the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), El Salvador’s high-security prison before being transferred to another detention facility in the country.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Challenges Detention
The prison is known for its harsh treatment of detainees,. He was later returned to the US to face criminal charges.
His lawyers argue that, given the abuse he suffered, he should be allowed to return to Maryland, where he lived with his wife and child before his March arrest by US immigration authorities. They are seeking to have his ongoing detention challenged in the state.
Responding to the case, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, “Once again the media is falling all over themselves to defend Kilmar Abrego Garcia. We hear far too much about gang members and criminals’ false sob stories and not enough about their victims.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Accused of Being a Gang Member
The case has reignited debate over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, which have led to increased deportations of undocumented migrants. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi previously said that an investigation found Abrego Garcia to be a member of the violent MS-13 gang, a claim he firmly denies, calling him a “danger to our community.”
In the filing, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers describe in harrowing detail the abuse he endured at CECOT after he and about 260 other deportees arrived on March 15. A prison official reportedly greeted them by saying, “Welcome to CECOT. Whoever enters here doesn’t leave.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Alleges Assault
Abrego Garcia was forced to strip and was physically assaulted, kicked in the legs with boots and struck on the head and arms to make him change his clothes faster, his lawyers wrote. His head was shaved, and he was beaten with wooden batons before being frog-marched to a cell crammed with about 20 other Salvadorans.
The detainees were then forced to kneel all night on the floor, with guards striking anyone who collapsed from exhaustion, the filing states.
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