Abrego Garcia was allegedly beaten and tortured at CECOT, new filings show – just one of many issues slated to be heard by a federal judge in court Monday.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadorian migrant erroneously deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador, was beaten and psychologically tortured while detained in the country, according to court filings – one of many disclosures revealed just days before a major hearing in Maryland.
The status hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland, is all but certain to reignite a closely watched legal fight over Abrego Garcia and his legal status in the U.S., which is currently playing out separately in two federal courts.
In a new court filing submitted to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers outlined a long list of abuses their client was subjected to at the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, a notorious anti-terrorism prison in El Salvador, including sleep deprivation, psychological torture and severe beatings.
These abuses allegedly began the moment the migrants arrived at the prison in March. There, they were greeted by a prison guard who said, „Welcome to CECOT. Whoever enters here, doesn’t leave.“
According to court documents, Abrego Garcia was immediately frog-marched to his cell by prison guards, who kicked him with boots and struck him with wooden batons along the way, leaving visible bumps and bruises across his body.
He and other detainees in the cell slept on metal mattresses, with minimal access to food and satiation. They were also forced to kneel for approximately nine hours, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., „with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion.“
Abrego Garcia’s physical condition deteriorated quickly – within two weeks, his lawyers said, he lost roughly 31 pounds.
He was also psychologically tortured and received threats of violence during his time at CECOT, according to the filing, where prison guards repeatedly told him they would transfer him to other prison cells housing violent gang members, whom they assured him would „tear“ him apart.
