Wrongful Deportation and Cartel Violence Highlight Regional Issues

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March, was beaten, deprived of sleep, and psychologically tortured during his nearly three-month detention in a notorious Salvadoran prison, according to court papers filed by his lawyers. The papers detailed his harsh treatment, including being forced to kneel overnight with guards striking those who fell from exhaustion, being denied bathroom access, and being confined to an overcrowded cell with no windows and bright lights 24/7. Abrego Garcia was later brought back to the US to face charges related to immigrant smuggling as a supposed MS-13 gang member, but his lawyers claim that Salvadoran prison officials acknowledged he was not affiliated with any gang and that his tattoos were not gang-related. Abrego Garcia is currently being held by federal authorities in Tennessee, and his lawyers are seeking to bar his deportation again, with two upcoming hearings in Maryland and Tennessee that will determine his fate.

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a citizen of El Salvador, was granted a withholding order preventing his deportation in 2019 and was released from ICE custody. However, in March 2025, he was unlawfully arrested, detained, and deported to El Salvador with his US citizen child in the car, where he was tortured and threatened. The Supreme Court and a federal district court ordered his return to the US, which happened in June 2025, but he now faces removal again without due process. Abrego Garcia and his family have filed a lawsuit against various government officials, alleging constitutional violations and seeking injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment to restore their rights and prevent further government overreach.

Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador, was allegedly tortured in the notorious Cecot prison, according to court documents. He was forced to kneel for hours, denied bathroom access, and held in an overcrowded cell with no windows and bright lights 24/7. Ábrego García lost 31 pounds in two weeks and was threatened with being moved to a cell with gang members who would "tear him apart." He is currently in federal custody in Nashville, facing human-smuggling charges, which he has pleaded not guilty to, and is at risk of being deported again.

Mexican authorities discovered 383 corpses, including 218 males and 149 females, in a private crematorium in Ciudad Juarez, near the U.S. border. The bodies, some of which may have been there for up to two years, were stacked and not cremated, with families receiving "other material" instead of ashes. Two people have been arrested, and officials blame the crematorium owners' "carelessness and irresponsibility." The incident has sparked concerns among families who may have relatives among the bodies, and authorities have promised a thorough investigation and severe penalties for those responsible.

Mexican authorities discovered 20 dead bodies, including five decapitated corpses, in the cartel-plagued city of Culiacan. Four decapitated bodies were found hanging from a highway bridge, with their heads in a nearby plastic bag. Additionally, 16 bodies with gunshot wounds were found in a van on the same freeway, along with a note from a cartel group. The violence is attributed to a war between two rival Sinaloa cartel groups, Los Chapitos and La Mayiza, with the US recently imposing sanctions on Los Chapitos for facilitating fentanyl production and trafficking.