Footage shows detained migrants spelling out chilling signal with their bodies in fear of going to 'world's worst prison'
Topics: El Salvador, Crime, US News
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Handout/Getty
Topics: El Salvador, Crime, US News
Chilling footage showing detained migrants spelling out a signal with their bodies in fear of going to a notorious El Salvador prison has gone viral.
Over 250 alleged criminals have been deported to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), which has been a part of President Trump's plan to enact mass deportations using a law last invoked during World War II.
This mega-jail spans 410 acres and can house up to 40,000 inmates, making it one of the largest in the world by prisoner capacity, as per government figures.
The facility consists of eight sprawling blocks divided into modules, with the AFP reporting inmates must stay with 65 to 70 others in their cells for up to 23-and-a-half hours a day.
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These crammed up cells consist of an open toilet, a cement basin and tiered metal bunks, forcing those incarcerated to sit on top of one another.
Those who are housed in CECOT are not believed to be allowed outside, and are instead permitted to exercise for 30 minutes a day inside the prison’s hallways.
The New York Post states that the building also features wide dining halls, break rooms, a gym, and board games that can only be utilised by the 2,000 guards working at the maximum security facility.
So, you can see why inmates don't want to stay there. And detainees at the Bluebonnet immigrant detention center in the Anson, Texas, sent a chilling message to the prospect of being deported to El Salvador.
Reuters news agency decided to fly a drone over the facility, which led to 31 men forming the letters 'SOS' on the grounds.
The outlet reports that dozens of Venezuelan detainees being held in the prison were told by immigration officers that they face deportation due to them allegedly being members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Families of seven detainees claimed to Reuters they have not been a part of the gang.
Jeferson Escalona, 19, who is being housed in the facility and was snapped by the drone spoke to Reuters in a phone call directly from Bluebonnet.
"They're making false accusations about me," he told the news agency. "I don't belong to any gang.
"I fear for my life here. I want to go to Venezuela."
A spokesperson for Management and Training Corporation, who run the facility, said: "All detainees housed at Bluebonnet receive meals based on a menu that has been approved by a certified dietitian, ensuring the recommended daily caloric intake is met."