Ramos Bastidas and other US deportees were told that they were condemned to spend 30 to 90 years in Cecot unless the US president ordered otherwise, he told his lawyers. They were shot with rubber bullets on repeated occasions – including on Friday, during their last day of detention.

In interviews with the media and in testimony provided to their lawyers, other detainees described lengthy beatings and humiliation by guards. After some detainees tried to break the locks on their cell, prisoners were beaten for six consecutive days, the Atlantic reports. Male guards reportedly brought in female colleagues, who beat the naked prisoners and recorded videos.

Edicson David Quintero Chacón, a US deportee, said that he was placed in isolation for stretches of time, during which he thought he would die, his lawyer told the Guardian. Quintero Chacón, who has scars from daily beatings, also said that he and other inmates were only provided soap and an opportunity to bathe on days when visitors were touring the prison – forcing them to choose between hygiene and public humiliation.

Food was limited, and the drinking water was dirty, Quintero Chacón and other detainees have said. Lights were on all night, so detainees could never fully rest. “And the guards would also come in at night and beat them at night,” said his lawyer Stephanie M Alvarez-Jones, the south-east regional attorney at the National Immigration Project.

"People held in CECOT ... are denied communication with their relatives and lawyers, and only appear before courts in online hearings, often in groups of several hundred detainees at the same time. The Salvadoran government has described people held in CECOT as 'terrorists,' and has said that they 'will never leave.' Human Rights Watch is not aware of any detainees who have been released from that prison. The government of El Salvador denies human rights groups access to its prisons and has only allowed journalists and social media influencers to visit CECOT under highly controlled circumstances. In videos produced during these visits, Salvadoran authorities are seen saying that prisoners only “leave the cell for 30 minutes a day” and that some are held in solitary confinement cells, which are completely dark." - Juanita Goebertus (Human Rights Watch), Declaration for case J.G.G. v. Trump, 20 March 2025

On 3 February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that El Salvador's President Bukele had agreed to confine both "dangerous American criminals" and "violent illegal immigrants" in the CECOT. On 15 March, it was announced that 261 migrants–mostly Venezuelan–had been deported from the USA and confined in the prison complex for a one year term.

"This weekend, the Trump Administration deported ruthless terrorist gang members — illegal immigrants who invaded our country and brought unspeakable devastation to our communities — as part of President Donald J. Trump’s utilization of every possible tool to protect the safety and security of the American people and reverse the damage done by years of feckless Democrat leadership." - White House Press Release, 17 March 2025

"President Nayib Bukele presented the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) on national television. This mega-prison facility will house gang members captured by law enforcement. The CECOT covers an area of ​​more than 236 blocks, almost seven times the size of Cuscatlán Stadium. It is completely isolated from any urban area, far from the population. The new infrastructure was built in the municipality of Tecoluca, in the department of San Vicente. The Terrorism Confinement Center, CECOT, has the following areas:
✅ Pavilions for confinement of prisoners
✅ House for guard dogs
✅ Building of custodians
✅ Access control with full body scanner, package scanner and metal arch
✅ Factory for 64 workshops: painting, desks, textiles, among others
✅ Administration
✅ Warehouse of weapons and security equipment
'Thanks to the strategic vision of our President Nayib Bukele, the terrorists who have brought mourning to our country for decades will NOT return to the streets until they pay for each of the crimes they committed against our society,' said Gustavo Villatoro, Minister of Justice and Public Security. Inside and outside the CECOT facilities, more than 600 Armed Forces soldiers and 250 National Civil Police officers will provide 24/7 security support to address any potential disturbances." (Government Press Release, 31 March 2023, https://www.seguridad.gob.sv/presidente-nayib-bukele-presenta-el-centro-de-confinamiento-del-terrorismo/)