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Legal and Diplomatic Backlash Intensifies Over Deportations to El Salvador’s CECOT Prison

Venezuela’s attorney general has opened a probe into alleged torture at CECOT following federal judges’ orders restricting ICE deportations

Overview

  • Venezuela’s attorney general has launched a crimes-against-humanity investigation targeting President Nayib Bukele and other Salvadoran officials over the treatment of 252 Venezuelan migrants sent to CECOT under the Alien Enemies Act.
  • Returned detainees have provided detailed accounts of beatings, sexual abuse, deprivation of sunlight and rotten food during four months at CECOT before their release in a prisoner‐exchange deal.
  • Human Rights Watch and multiple detainee testimonies have documented overcrowding, medical neglect, forced eating from the floor and constant shackling at U.S. ICE centers, notably Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz.”
  • Judge Stephanie Gallagher signaled possible contempt proceedings after the administration failed to return a migrant known as “Cristian,” and Judge Paula Xinis ordered three business days’ notice before ICE can detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia post-release.
  • Lawyers for wrongfully deported migrants are seeking criminal contempt charges for administration non-compliance while DHS has publicly denied any abuse claims in either U.S. or Salvadoran facilities.