Kilmar Abrego Garcia was stripped naked, had his head shaved, was beaten, forced to kneel for hours overnight, and lost over 30 pounds during his time at the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador, his attorneys say in a new court filing.
Abrego, of Maryland, was deported to El Salvador in March by the Trump administration in an “administrative error” and was returned to the U.S. in June to face federal charges. At the time of his removal from the U.S., Abrego was protected from deportation by a 2019 court order.
His high-profile case was pushed into the national spotlight, sparking a heated debate over Trump’s immigration crackdown and the race to deport people, at times without due process.
Abrego was deported to El Salvador on March 15 and placed into CECOT, a megaprison known for its brutal conditions.
There, he was allegedly subjected to severe beatings, sleep deprivation, inadequate nutrition and psychological torture, his attorneys said in an amended complaint filed Wednesday. That complaint is part of a federal lawsuit filed by Abego’s wife against the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The complaint states that upon arrival at CECOT, Abrego was forced to strip, issued prison clothing, kicked in the legs with boots and struck on his head and arms to change faster. His head was also allegedly shaved, and he was frog-marched to a cell while being hit with wooden batons.
The following day, he had “visible bruises and lumps all over his body,” the complaint said.
In that cell, he and 20 other Salvadorans “were forced to kneel from approximately 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion,” the filing said. During that time, Abrego was denied bathroom access and soiled himself, according to the complaint.
The inmates were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in overcrowded cells without windows and bright lights that stayed on 24 hours a day, the complaint says.
While there, prison officials repeatedly told Abrego that “they would transfer him to cells containing gang members who, they assured him, would ‘tear’ him apart,” the complaint says.
The attorneys said Abrego observed prisoners violently harm each other without staff intervention.
“Screams from nearby cells would similarly ring out throughout the night without any response from prison guards or personnel,” the complaint says.
In his first two weeks, he lost 31 pounds.
On April 9, the complaint says, Abrego and four others were transferred to a different module in CECOT. But the next day, he was transferred alone to the Centro Industrial prison facility in Santa Ana, El Salvador.
Throughout his time in El Salvador, his lawyers say, Abrego was denied any communications with his family and access to counsel until Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., visited him on April 17.
The Supreme Court ruled in April that his removal was “illegal” and determined that a judge’s order for the administration to facilitate his return was proper.
Abrego was ultimately returned to the U.S. on June 6, following a contentious back-and-forth between the court and the Trump administration that raised concerns about defiance of the judicial branch.
The government has repeatedly accused the 29-year-old of being involved with the gang MS-13 — claims Abrego’s family and attorneys have denied.
His attorneys say Abrego, who is from El Salvador, left the country when he was around 16 years old to flee gang violence. In 2011, Abrego entered the U.S. without inspection and stayed in Maryland, where his older brother, a U.S. citizen, lived, the complaint said.
In the Wednesday filing, attorneys for the Abrego family ask Judge Paula Xinis to rule that over the course of this entire ordeal — from the time he was picked up in that Maryland parking lot to when he was returned to the U.S. — the government violated laws, and his Fifth Amendment right to due process.
They also want Abrego returned to Maryland and separately want a habeas corpus hearing held in Maryland.
When Abrego returned last month, the Justice Department said he would face human smuggling charges in Tennessee. He is accused of transporting people not legally in the U.S. within the country.
He allegedly participated in a conspiracy over nine years to move people from Texas deeper into the country, including members of MS-13, the Trump administration said.
Abrego’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, has insisted that he was not involved in criminal activity.
“Kilmar worked in construction and sometimes transported groups of workers between job sites, so it’s entirely plausible he would have been pulled over while driving with others in the vehicle,” his wife previously said in a statement. “He was not charged with any crime or cited for any wrongdoing” at the time.
The family’s attorney, Chris Newman, previously said the Trump administration’s efforts are part of a “campaign of disinformation, defamation against Kilmar and his family.”
