The inhumane rules inside the facility of the ‘world’s worst prison’ after the first Immigrants from the US arrive.
An order was passed last week to send 238 alleged criminals to a mega-prison in El Salvador, despite a federal judge ruling against it.
This decision was made when the plane headed for El Salvador carrying the suspected members of a Venezuelan gang was already in international airspace so the administration is denying that the move disobeyed anyone.
Trump was able to deport the alleged criminals thanks to an 18th century law that was intended for wartime.
The US government claimed to be facing an ‘invasion’ from the gang that is linked to kidnapping, contract murder and other crimes.
The immigrants were transported to El Salvador’s maximum security Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT).
The facility was opened in 2023 and is one of the worlds largest prisons, currently the home to tens of thousands of people accused of being in gangs.
A deal was struck between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Salvadoran President, Nayib Bukele, directing the immigrants to CECOT.
Bukele then shared images of the inmates who were taken of the plane and moved into the facility, in a highly-guarded convoy.
He wrote that ‘first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organisation’ had landed and that ‘the United States will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us.’
Taking to Twitter, he penned: “As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action.
“May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.”
The inmates were shaved on their knees, by guards.
Trump shared on Truth Social: “These are monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they!”
“Thank you to El Salvador, and in particular President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of Democrat leadership.
“We will not forget.”
Trump has since denied any wrongdoing by deporting the immigrants. The White House secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a statement: “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil.”
CECOT is known for its overcrowding inhumane living conditions where inmates are forced to fight over food and water.
There are endless rows of metal bunk beds with no mattresses, or blanket, where people sleep on top of people for lack of space and overcrowding.
Each cell has two toilets and two basins, which are in full view of rest of the cell. There are no windows, fans or air conditioning.
There are also no recreational space outside, and inmates are only allowed to leave their cell for online hearing or the be out into solitary confinement.
Miguel Sarre, a former member of the United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture, described the prison as a ‘concrete and steel pit’.
The maximum capacity is 40,000, but according to Sarre, they work under a ‘perverse calculation to dispose of people without formally applying the death penalty’.
Upon arrival, inmates are forced to have their heads shaved and will continue to be shaven, every 5 days. They must wear a white t-shirt and shorts, for the remainder of their incarceration.
No cutlery is used, so they must eat with their hands and the artificial lights are always left on.
Hooded guards keep watch from above, with guns.
BBC News Mundo correspondent Leire Venta visited the facility, last year, to report on the conditions: “It is the middle of the night, but in here, the artificial lights are never turned off. A waft of air filters through the lattice ceiling, providing a brief respite from the heat.
“The temperature in the cells can reach 35C during the day and there is no other source of ventilation. Hooded guards keep watch from above, gun in hand.
“Below, the prisoners climb onto the four-storey bunks on which they sleep. Without any mattresses or sheets, they have to lie on bare metal.
“They eat the food they are given – rice, beans, hard-boiled eggs or pasta – with their hands.”
https://x.com/MisterIneffable/status/1901276479947714761
She said the director of the centre told her: “Here are the psychopaths, the terrorists, the murderers who had our country in mourning. Don’t look them in the eyes. Any utensil can be [fashioned into] a deadly weapon.”