Congressman Riley Moore visited a maximum-security prison in El Salvador where some people deported from the United States are being held and shared photos on social media, including one of Moore giving a thumbs up.
“I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland,” Moore, a Republican from West Virginia’s northern counties, wrote on social media.
Moore visited a facility known as CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo).
The Trump administration has reached a $6 million agreement with El Salvador’s government to send some deported Americans to the Terrorism Confinement Center.
Hundreds of immigrants deported from the United States to a maximum-security prison were accused of being members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
The Trump administration has not identified the deported migrants, provided any evidence that they are members of Tren de Aragua, or charged them with any crimes in the United States. Some were identified as gang members because of their tattoos of crowns, a clock, and other symbols.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a sheet metal worker and father of three from Maryland, is among the deported people being held at the prison. He was removed from the United States due to a “administrative error.”
Abrego Garcia, who has no criminal record in the United States or anywhere else, denies being a gang member.
Ábrego García illegally entered the US from El Salvador in 2011, fleeing threats from the Barrio 18 gang against his family.
He has been accused of being a member of the violent Salvadoran gang MS-13. That allegation stems from a 2019 removal proceeding and is allegedly based on his attire, which included a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie, as well as a Gang Field Interview Sheet completed by a detective who was later suspended.
In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the United States.
Congressman Moore announced shortly after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday that he had just toured CECOT. The photos he posted appeared to show cells packed with prisoners.
“This maximum-security facility houses the nation’s most brutal criminals, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and terrorists. Moore wrote, “Several inmates were extremely violent criminals recently deported from the United States.”
Moore received both criticism and praise on his Facebook page.
Jill Upson, executive director of the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs and the West Virginia Women’s Commission, was one of those who spoke out.
“Thank you, Congressman Moore,” says Upson, “for standing up for the victims of violent crime.”
