Trigger Warning: The article mentions about emotional and physical abuse.
The infamous El Salvador prison is at the center of Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown. Known as CECOT, the notorious mega prison, situated in Tecoluca, has already earned a bad reputation for its nightmarish conditions. Critics have slammed the Trump administration for sending deportees, who are suspected of being Venezuelan gang members, to this prison.
Amid the mass deportations to the El Salvador prison, some of the 252 Venezuelan migrants spoke up about the “nightmare” conditions they continue to endure at the facility. Speaking with CNN, José Mora claimed that the guards at CECOT often abused inmates both physically and mentally.
Rafael Martínez, who was also detained by ICE and then transferred to the notorious facility, added, “It was a nightmare. I heard many brothers asking for help, shouting, ‘Mom, help!'”
Rafael was charged with robbery in the United States. According to his criminal records, he later pleaded guilty and was released on bail. However, he was then arrested by ICE as part of the immigration crackdown and then sent to CECOT.
Meanwhile, Mora faced traffic violations charges in the United States. However, before travelling there, he served a sentence in Venezuela for a drug possession-related offense. However, when they were deported in March, Mora and Martínez were also accused of having ties with the notorious Venezuelan prison gang, Trend de Aragua. However, despite their denials, the pair was transferred to CECOT.
Initially, they had no knowledge of where they were being deported to. However, as soon as the plane landed, “the mistreatment began,” claimed Martínez. He told CNN that the officials held their heads down as they got onto buses, and some even began beating the detainees.
Former CECOT detainee: We were constantly beaten. We suffered physical, verbal, and psychological abuse. There wasn’t a day where the wardens didn’t tell us that the only way we’ll leave that place was if we were dead. In fact, the first words the head of the prison said to us… pic.twitter.com/ECEv6lmbIn
— FactPost (@factpostnews) July 24, 2025
The men added that once they were inside the facility, the guards forced them to kneel on the ground. They claimed that they were being treated as criminals, as the officers shaved their heads, confiscated all their belongings. Mora recounted that a senior worker at CECOT told him, “Welcome to hell. You will never get out of here. You will not see the light of day.”
The condition inside the prison was worse. According to the detainees, they had to share a cell with nine people, sleep on metal bunks with no mattresses, have the same meals every day, and were permitted to take only one shower a day at 4 a.m.
Rafael complained that he was punished once just for putting his head through the bars when he felt uneasy. He was allegedly taken to another cell where at least eight guards assaulted him which fracturing his arm.
NEW: A former CECOT detainee describes the ordeal he underwent in the El Salvadorian prison.
“We were constantly beaten. We suffered physical, psychological and emotional abuse. The wardens told us the only way we would leave that place was if we were dead. The first words from… pic.twitter.com/0hcMEZfECy
— Ron Smith (@Ronxyz00) July 24, 2025
“When we protested, they shot at us point-blank with rubber bullets, point-blank into the cell. We were like chickens or rats locked up … and they shot us with rubber bullets,” Mora recalled.
At one point, most of the detainees gave up any hopes of getting out, and then, to their surprise, the treatment suddenly changed. Finally, the four-month nightmare ended on Friday, when the 252 detainees were finally released from the prison as part of an exchange deal between the United States and Venezuela.
The men have since been reunited with their families, while opening up about the “inhumane” experience they had at CECOT.
