A prison in El Salvador, already known for its harsh conditions, has become even more notorious after it accepted alleged gang members deported from the United States under a controversial move by Donald Trump.
The Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT), a sprawling maximum-security facility capable of housing 40,000 inmates, is drawing renewed global attention for its extreme measures and alleged human rights violations, per the Independent.
Built in 2023, the facility has been described as “a concrete and steel pit” by former United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture member Miguel Sarre.
He warned that the prison, with its steel walls, barbed wire, electric fences, and 24-hour video surveillance, has become a tool for the El Salvador government “to dispose of people without formally applying the death penalty.”
Now, the prison’s population has swelled with the arrival of hundreds of men deported under Trump’s order, carried out using an obscure 18th-century wartime law despite a federal judge’s attempt to block the action while the plane was already in the air.
Images and video shared by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele showed the new arrivals being led in handcuffs into CECOT.
Trump took to Truth Social to thank Bukele, posting: “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.”
Bukele confirmed the transfer in a statement, saying: “The first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization have landed… The United States will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us.”
He added: “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.”
Meanwhile, Trump defended his decision to deport the alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang accused of human trafficking, contract killings, and drug smuggling, stating: “These are monsters sent into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left Democrats. How dare they!”
He further justified the action, saying: “Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA. The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States.”
Despite a judge’s ruling against the deportation, the Trump administration denied wrongdoing, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stating: “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.”
Inside CECOT, conditions remain severe for inmates. Prisoners are packed into cells containing 80 bunks for more than 100 inmates, with only two toilets and two basins per module.
Each bunk lacks a mattress, with inmates forced to sleep on bare metal frames using only a thin blanket... meaning every night is agony.
Food is limited, primarily beans and pasta, and prisoners must eat with their hands as utensils are banned.
Each cell has only two Bibles for reading, and prisoners are permitted just 30 minutes of shackled exercise each day, spending the rest of their time confined to their overcrowded cells. There are no family visits or phone calls allowed.
Prisoners are also subject to strict personal regulations, wearing white shirts and shorts, and having their heads shaved every five days.
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the facility, arguing that it is inhumane and designed for punishment rather than rehabilitation. Despite this, reports indicate other countries may consider building similar facilities in the future, seeing CECOT as a model for handling organized crime.