You likely remember the horrifying images from CECOT, El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison: detainees stripped and forced to kneel, surrounded by armed guards in riot gear.
That includes hundreds of men who the U.S. government deported without due process, based on unproven allegations that they were members of a Venezuelan gang. Men like 19-year-old Carlos Daniel Terán, who told NPR how he was dragged from his cell, beaten, and sexually assaulted. He called CECOT “hell on earth” — and a troubling secret memo details how U.S. tax dollars paid for the torture he and others experienced.
It may not surprise you that the Trump administration signed off on a multi-million dollar deal that turns a blind eye to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable. The horrific reality is that things could get worse yet: Right now, the Trump administration is working to expand third-country deportations to as many as 58 countries.
It’s unconscionable. But as soon as this week, Senator Tim Kaine will force votes on a package of SIX game changing resolutions that would require the State Department to provide human rights reports on South Sudan, Rwanda, Eswatini, Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico — places the Trump administration is currently deporting people.
The clock is ticking, and we have the narrowest window of opportunity to build enough support to pass Senator Kaine’s resolutions and help ensure no one faces the abuse that Terán and others experienced.