Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador on 15 March, told a U.S. federal court that guards at the Central Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) beat him, deprived him of sleep and food, and subjected him to psychological torture, causing a 31-pound weight loss in two weeks. The allegations were filed this week as part of his bid to avoid a second removal order and to secure release from pre-trial detention in Tennessee. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele rejected the accusations on 3 July, posting video that shows Abrego Garcia gardening, exercising and undergoing medical checks inside the prison. “The man wasn’t tortured, nor did he lose weight,” Bukele wrote, saying the images prove the detainee was treated properly. Abrego Garcia, whose wife and child are U.S. citizens, was flown back to the United States on 6 June after the Justice Department charged him with conspiring to smuggle migrants. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody while U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis considers motions related to the alleged abuse and to the government’s plan to deport him again. The clash underscores broader tensions over U.S. deportation procedures under former president Donald Trump and El Salvador’s tough-on-crime detention policies. The Justice Department and Salvadoran authorities have not yet commented in court on the new footage or the torture claims.