Torture, bankrolled by your tax dollars

As soon as this week, Sen. Kaine will force SIX crucial votes.

Pamela, you likely remember the horrifying images from CECOT, El Salvador's notorious mega-prison: detainees stripped and forced to kneel, surrounded by armed guards in riot gear.

That includes hundreds of men who the U.S. government deported without due process, based on unproven allegations that they were members of a Venezuelan gang. Men like 19-year-old Carlos Daniel Terán, who told NPR how he was dragged from his cell, beaten, and sexually assaulted. He called CECOT "hell on earth"[1] — and a troubling secret memo details how U.S. tax dollars paid for the torture he and others experienced.[2]

It may not surprise you that the Trump administration signed off on a multi-million dollar deal that turns a blind eye to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable. The horrific reality is that things could get worse yet: Right now, the Trump administration is working to expand third-country deportations to as many as 58 countries.

It's unconscionable. That's why, as early as this week, Senator Tim Kaine will force votes on a package of SIX game-changing resolutions that would require the State Department to provide human rights reports on South Sudan, Rwanda, Eswatini, Costa Rica, Panama, and Mexico — places where the Trump administration is currently deporting people.[3] The findings from these reports can help ensure no one faces the abuse that Terán and others experienced.

The clock is ticking, and we have the narrowest window of opportunity to build enough support to pass Senator Kaine's resolutions. Can we count on you to send an urgent message to your Senators today?

ACT NOW

To keep up with its mass deportation machine, the Trump administration is sending people it detains to places where they have no ties, far away from their families, homes, or culture — and beyond the protections of U.S. law. It's completely cruel, not to mention dangerous.

So far, it's happened without meeting the transparency, oversight, or accountability standards required by U.S. law — until now.

Last week, an agreement between the U.S. and Salvadoran governments was exposed as part of a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration. It spells out numerous restrictions on the ways U.S. funds can and can't be used, but nothing in it prevents the Salvadoran government from holding detainees in indefinite confinement, or committing other horrific human rights abuses, including torture.

Hundreds of potentially innocent people faced torture and abuse as a result. Now we have a responsibility to act to ensure human rights are centered in future arrangements. The good news? We don't have to wait for a court ruling.

The Foreign Assistance Act grants Congress the authority to order an investigation into human rights abuses by governments that receive taxpayer funds. It's a rarely used but powerful procedural maneuver because it isn't subject to a president's veto — and that means it can get big results.

If these resolutions pass the Senate, the State Department has 30 days to produce a report that can bring about accountability and oversight. But first, we need to win the 50 votes necessary to make it happen. Can you add your voice?

Let's send our Senators an overwhelming message that Congress has a right, and a responsibility, to know what conditions look like in the places where the U.S. government is sending people.

We refuse to let the human consequences of Trump's immigration policy fade into the background.

If we want to dismantle the Trump administration's horrible deportation machine, we're going to have to go after it piece by piece. This week, Senator Kaine is offering a crucial tool. Will you help us seize it?

Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team

P.S. Our team is increasingly concerned about the Trump administration's reckless and unauthorized strikes in the Caribbean and we are monitoring the situation closely. As we work with partners across the movement and in Congress to create the roadblocks necessary to stop a new war, please join us in urging Congress to investigate these strikes immediately.

 

1. NPR, "'Hell on Earth': Venezuelans deported to El Salvador mega-prison tell of brutal abuse"
2. USA Today, "Trump administration's $4.7M contract for El Salvador prison revealed"
3. Press Release, "Kaine to Force Up to Six Votes Demanding Human Rights Reports After Trump's Cruel Deportation of Immigrants to Random Countries"

 

 

 

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