El Salvadoran president releases video challenging Kilmar Abrego Garcia torture claims

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele released a video reel showing Kilmar Abrego Garcia in prison in an attempt to refute the migrant’s claims that he was tortured while in the country’s custody. 

Abego Garcia, who a judge ruled was improperly departed to El Salvador and eventually returned to the United States, is shown in the video enjoying leisure activities, including playing soccer and gardening. 

Upon returning to the United States, where he is facing charges of human smuggling in Tennessee, Abrego Garcia alleged that he was beaten and endured psychological torture while imprisoned in his home country. 

Abrego Garcia's account of his prison stay was part of a court filing from his attorneys Wednesday in their effort to convince Maryland U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to block their client's deportation again while he awaits trial. 

The Trump Department of Homeland Security called the migrant’s claims a “sob story.” The administration also maintains its original judgment that Abrego Garcia is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. 

While in El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was held at the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, called CEDOT, but was later transferred to a lower security prison. CEDOT was built by President Bukele to house prisoners from his crackdown on gang violence in the small Central American country. 

Bukele pushed back on the migrant’s claims directly in a post to X."If he’d been tortured, sleep-deprived, and starved, why does he look so well in every picture?" Bukele wrote. "Why would he gain weight? Why are there no bruises, or even dark circles under his eyes?”

Bukele further said video evidence from Abrego Garcia’s stay, including when U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to visit him earlier this year, would show evidence of torture if his claims were true.