July 8, 2025
People’s World
Sketch artist's depiction of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in the courtroom on June 25. | Diego Fishburn via AP
NASHVILLE—The never-ending travails of Kilmar Abrego Garcia continue unabated. On Wednesday, July 2, he alleged in an amended complaint filed in federal court that he “was subjected to severe mistreatment” while being held in the notorious El Salvador mega prison, CECOT, after being illegally deported from the United States to that country.
Abrego Garcia is currently held in Tennessee awaiting trial on human smuggling charges after being returned to the United States in June following an indictment by a Tennessee grand jury. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has another court hearing on July 16.
In April, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had illegally deported Abrego Garcia and ordered the government to return him to the U.S. The Supreme Court upheld that decision and ordered that the Trump government “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, but the administration would not do so until he was indicted on human smuggling charges in May.
Lawyers for Abrego Garcia alleged in the July 2 filing that he was the subject of “severe mistreatment” at the prison. In this case, the term “severe mistreatment” is an obvious euphemism for torture.
The allegations include severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, being “forced to kneel” in a cell from 9 pm to 6 am, and being struck by guards if he fell over from exhaustion. According to the filing: “During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself.”
When Abrego Garcia, as alleged in the filing, first arrived at CECOT, he was “repeatedly struck by officers when he attempted to raise his head” and “was kicked in the legs with boots and struck on his head and arms to make him change his clothes faster” when issued a prison uniform.
He was then “frog-marched to his cell” while “being struck with wooden batons along the way.” Further, “Screams from nearby cells would…ring out throughout the night without any response from the prison guards.”
In addition to outright physical abuse, Abrego Garcia was confined, along with other detainees to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows and bright lights that were on 24 hours a day. There was also minimal access to sanitation.
Also, Abrego Garcia suffered from inadequate food, losing over 30 lbs in weight during his first two weeks at CECOT, according to the complaint.
Assuming all these allegations to be credible (and there is no reason to assume otherwise), it is quite plausible that all of this torture took place with the knowledge, at the instigation of, and with the encouragement and connivance of the Trump regime.
CONTRIBUTOR
Albert Bender
Albert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political columnist, and freelance reporter. He is currently writing a legal treatise on Native American sovereignty and working on a book on the war crimes committed by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war He is a consulting attorney on Indigenous sovereignty, land restoration, and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) issues.
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