By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant returned to the U.S. in early June after being wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador, reported severe mistreatment in a high-security prison in the Latin American nation, according to a court filing on Wednesday.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Wednesday’s filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland marked the first time Abrego Garcia gave a first-hand description of his experience at the Salvadoran prison CECOT.
A Maryland resident whose wife and young child are U.S. citizens, he was deported on March 15 to El Salvador, despite a 2019 immigration court ruling that he not be sent there because he could be persecuted by gangs. Officials called his removal an “administrative error.”
KEY QUOTE
“Plaintiff Abrego Garcia reports that he was subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival at CECOT, including but not limited to severe beatings, severe sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition, and psychological torture,” his lawyers said in the filing, adding he lost 31 pounds in his first two weeks there.
CONTEXT
Critics of U.S. President Donald Trump pointed to the case as evidence his administration was prioritizing increased deportations over due process, the principle that people in the U.S., whether citizens or not, can contest governmental actions against them in courts.
Trump has pledged to crack down on illegal immigration and says Abrego Garcia belongs to the MS-13 gang – an accusation his lawyers deny. The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday reiterated U.S. accusations against him in an online post.
The Justice Department brought Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. on June 6 after securing an indictment charging him with working with at least five co-conspirators as part of a smuggling ring to bring immigrants to the U.S. illegally.
He has pleaded not guilty and the government says it plans to deport him again. He is currently detained in Tennessee while his criminal case is pending.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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