‘This is on them’: Trump admin scorched after systemic ‘torture’ of deportees exposed

The Trump administration is facing a wave of condemnation after new reporting has revealed details about the systemic “torture” migrants were subjected to after being deported to El Salvador’s notoriously dangerous CECOT prison. The Trump administration has sent around 250 migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison as part of its broader mass deportation policy. And, while the prison’s tortuous conditions have been well documented, The New York Times recently spoke with 40 former inmates whose testimony, forensic experts say, indicated “the existence of an institutional policy and practice of torture,” the outlet reported Sunday. Speaking with the Times, the former inmates said they were beaten repeatedly, subjected to waterboarding-like torture, stripped naked and forced to perform sexual acts, and denied lifesaving medication. Of the 40 men interviewed, only three had criminal histories beyond immigration and traffic offenses, despite Trump’s pledge to only deport the “worst of the worst.”The detailed account of the torturous conditions left many critics stunned, including former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, who called for Democrats should they regain control of Congress and the White House to not forget what the Trump administration had subjected migrants to and to hold them to account.“This is what Trump, [Vice President JD] Vance, [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi] Noem and [White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen] Miller did. This is on them,” Hasan wrote Sunday in a social media post on X to his nearly 2 million followers. “There needs to be criminal accountability if the Dems ever get back into power.”Activist, lawyer and Trump critic George Conway concurred with Hasan’s call for accountability, telling his more than 2. 2 million followers that the Trump administration should also face accountability for its targeted strikes on suspected drug traffickers operations that some former officials have since questioned the legitimacy of.“Absolutely, positively,” Conway wrote in a social media post on X Sunday, agreeing with Hasan’s statement. “And for the [Caribbean] boat strikes, too.”This is what Trump, Vance, Noem and Miller did. This is on them. There needs to be criminal accountability if the Dems ever get back into power. Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 9, 2025.