Despite a judge ordering for the flights packed with prisoners that were already in the air to be turned around, Trump went ahead anyway.
238 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and 23 alleged members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 will now call the fearsome Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) home.
Trump invoked an 18th century law which is intended for wartime, the Alien Enemies Act, saying the suspected gang members had ‘unlawfully infiltrated’ the US.
When asked whether he had flouted the court order which temporarily blocked the deportation, issued on Saturday (15 March) from US District Judge James E. Boasberg, Trump said: “I don’t know.
“You have to speak to the lawyers about that. I can tell you this. These were bad people.”
Trump went on to say that he was well within his rights to use the Alien Enemies Act as ‘this is a time of war’, while describing the number of criminal migrants in his country as ‘an invasion’.
The US will now pay El Salvador to house the hundreds of men at CECOT – dubbed the ‘world’s worst prison’ – where conditions are less than favourable.
The facility, which was opened in 2023 under President Nayib Bukele’s administration, is a place where nobody wants to end up.
What are conditions like in the CECOT jail?
Thousands of alleged gang members are crammed into CECOT (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Image)
Tens of thousands of people accused of having gang affiliations are locked up there, crammed into endless rows of bare metal bunks which don’t even have a mattress in conditions described as ‘inhumane’.
Guards keep a watchful eye on prisoners through the holes in the diamond shaped mesh ceiling of the cells, according to the BBC, and privacy is a luxury which people aren’t afforded at CECOT.
Each cell has two toilets and two basins which inmates have to use in full view of one another – and there aren’t any windows, fans, or air conditioners in the cells either.
Prisoners are only permitted to leave for online hearings or to be shipped off to solitary confinement, as CECOT doesn’t even have any recreational space outdoors.
The maximum security prison located in Tecoluca is said to be one of the most secure facilities in the world, boasting state-of-the-art technology and 24/7 surveillance systems.
But in the eyes of Miguel Sarre, a former member of the United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture, the place is a ‘concrete and steel pit’.
He claimed that CECOT, which has a maximum capacity of 40,000, operates under a ‘perverse calculation to dispose of people without formally applying the death penalty’.
Antonio Durán, a senior judge in the city of Zacatecoluca, agreed, saying the methods used at the prison are ‘not only wrong but also criminal’, adding: “It’s torture.”
There’s not a chance of inmates escaping these hellish conditions either – as CECOT is surrounding by two sets of mesh perimeter fences which are fully electrified.
The conditions at the prison have been described as ‘inhumane’ and compared to ‘torture’ (Handout/Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images)
Oh, and there’s two reinforced concrete walls to tackle too…if a guard from one of the 19 watchtowers doesn’t clock you trying to recreate Michael Scofield in Prison Break first.
Inmates are forced to have their heads shaved every five days and each person has to wear a white t-shirt and shorts throughout their incarceration.
Prisoners also aren’t permitted to use cutlery and have to eat with their hands – although the food probably isn’t even worth eating.
BBC News Mundo correspondent Leire Venta visited the prison last year, and it’s safe to say that she will not be forgetting her experience there any time soon.
Describing what she witnessed, Venta said: “It is the middle of the night, but in here, the artificial lights are never turned off. A waft of air filters through the lattice ceiling, providing a brief respite from the heat.
“The temperature in the cells can reach 35C during the day and there is no other source of ventilation. Hooded guards keep watch from above, gun in hand.
“Below, the prisoners climb onto the four-storey bunks on which they sleep. Without any mattresses or sheets, they have to lie on bare metal.
“They eat the food they are given – rice, beans, hard-boiled eggs or pasta – with their hands.”
She said the director of the centre told her: “Here are the psychopaths, the terrorists, the murderers who had our country in mourning. Don’t look them in the eyes. Any utensil can be [fashioned into] a deadly weapon.”
President Bukele said that the latest influx of alleged gang members at CECOT who arrived from the US signalled another step ‘in the fight against organised crime’.
While sharing pictures and videos of the handcuffed men, he said in a post on X: “This time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action.”
