El Salvador: The Mega Prison Where Trump Is Sending Venezuelan Gang Members

US President Donald Trump on Sunday deported hundreds of alleged members of the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT), one of the world's largest and highest security prisons.

Mr Trump has invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport the alleged illegal immigrants to El Salvador despite a court order forbidding the administration from doing so. The Trump government has agreed to pay $6 million to El Salvador to keep these alleged gang members in prison for one year, according to reports.

What is El Salvador's mega prison CECOT?

The Terrorism Confinement Centre, a maximum security prison, was built on January 31, 2023, in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Built under President Nayib Bukele, the facility was opened to accommodate the most violent gang members such as those from Barrio 18 and MS-13. It is also home to mass murderers and gang members billed as the "worst of the worst".

With eight expansive pavilions, the facility can hold up to 40,000 prisoners. Every person entering the facility is subject to a physical inspection as well as an X-ray scan. Inmates receive food that includes rice, beans, eggs, and pasta, but they don't get any cutlery since the jail management thinks they could use it as weapons. 

Reports state that there are 65 to 70 inmates in each cell, locked for 23.5 hours a day. Inmates can only leave their cells for 30 minutes to exercise, read the Bible, participate in online court proceedings, or be put in solitary confinement. There is no proper furniture, just metal bunk beds without sheets, pillows, and mattresses. They have two open toilets, two washbasins, a plastic bucket for washing, and a large jug for drinking water.

The prison has two sets of barbed-wire-covered walls. They are three meters high and sixty centimetres thick, with nineteen guard towers, two sets of electric fences, and gravel flooring that makes footsteps audible. Artificial lights are used to illuminate the cells around the clock. There are two Bibles in each cell. Every cell is watched over by armed guards and CCTV cameras. Except for one tiny ceiling hole that lets some light in, the isolated cells are completely dark.

CECOT inmates do not receive visits and are never permitted to leave their cells. No workshops or educational programs are provided to help inmates prepare for their return to society after serving their time in prison. The ones who earn the trust of jail officials sometimes offer motivational speeches. They are escorted through workouts under the watchful eyes of guards or are seated in rows in the hallway outside their cells for discussions.