Ever since Donald Trump took office in January, migrants entering the United States have increasingly feared the threat of deportation. Now this threat has taken on a new dimension: the possibility of ending up in a high-security prison in El Salvador.

Since March, Trump's government has deported a total of 271 Salvadoran and Venezuelan migrants from the US to the CECOT megaprison in El Salvador. Washington claims that the deportees belong to criminal organizations, but has provided no evidence.

Instead, relatives and human rights organizations warn that innocent people with no criminal records have been deported. The most symbolic case is that of the Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who Washington has acknowledged was deported because of a "procedural error."

US media reported that Abrego Garcia entered the country illegally in 2011 as a teenager fleeing gang violence. Although his asylum application was rejected in 2019, he was granted a work permit and protection from deportation due to the threat of persecution. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old father of three was arrested in mid-March and deported shortly afterwards.

Washington now claims that Abrego Garcia is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. His lawyers deny this.

Both Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have refused to return Abrego Garcia to the US. Trump has also ignored a

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