An aunt’s journey to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison

Jhoanna Sanguino was 11 years old when she held her nephew in her arms for the first time.

She told Daily Kos that there was no longer any reason to play with dolls. She finally had “a real little boy in my arms”.

And while her nephew is now a 24 -year -old child who touches him, she fears that holding it could never be possible again.

In March, Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguiino was one of the more than 250 undocumented immigrants who were illegally United States deleted And thrown into the famous Terrorism Center for El Salvador, known as Cecot.

Cecot was built by President Salvadoran Nayib Bukele as a means of suppressing high crime rates in the country and gang activity. The maximum security prison can house up to 40,000 prisoners, but is known for its overcrowding and inhuman conditions. Since President Donald Trump and Bukele seal Earlier this year, a piece of these beds is now reserved for men who, according to Trump, were members of Gangs Tren of Aragua terrorizing the United States

Videos of inside the prison Show men with shaved heads sleeping on hard beds and without mattresses stacked on each other. Similar to the water hole of an animal, the cells have structures of rectangular baths near the bars where the prisoners are forced to bathe in clear view of the guards and the other inhabitants.

Imagining what Widmer crosses is hellish for his dedicated aunt – but she refuses to stop fighting for her return safely.

“He is currently deprived of his freedom,” said Jhoanna Sanguino about his nephew. “But fortunately, he has a family waiting for him.”

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On June 9, Sanguino traveled from his home in Colombia to El Salvador on behalf of Widmer’s family to plead all proof of the well-being of his nephew and ask for his release. She submitted documents and declarations to a human rights mediator and spoke to the media of the fate of her nephew.

“I haven’t rested since her disappearance,” she said after her return home.

The trip cost more than $ 1,500 – not a small amount for the family. Despite her efforts, Jhoanna did not leave with a receipt of the criminal center recognizing the countless documents she submitted to prove the innocence of her nephew.

The efforts to help defend the release of Widmer also extended to his native country in Venezuela.

June 4,, A young girl from Venezuela sang in a microphone while family members, school teachers and friends were swinging and agitated banners who read “Josneyder Libertad – no soy crime”, which translates into “Josneyder Free – I am not a criminal”.

And while the community joined forces to plead its innocence, they have also gathered to help finance what will be an expensive effort to, hope, free Widmer and help the family to set up legal and travel costs.

For families such as sanguinos, going to the El Salvador Salvador from other countries in Center or South America to plead innocence in the name of their loved ones is not an easy or inexpensive feat.

“It was a team effort,” said Jhoanna. While she and her husband worked to collect funds to pay the necessary visa and other travel costs, Widmer’s mother – who occupies two jobs while raising two young children in Texas – give what she could too.

“Widmer’s girlfriend, who is alone in Ecuador, has organized a raffle with her colleagues,” she added.

Jhoanna wanted to offer encouragement to other families who can be lost or submerged, thinking of putting on similar efforts.

“It is possible with the organization, the discipline and, above all, does not travel illegally,” she said. “Put your documents in order, collect information in advance and start collecting funds.”

After discovering that Widmer was one of Hundreds of Venezuelan men Aboard the first plane for El Salvador, the blood family initially filed a complaint against Interior Security Secretary Kristi Noem. In this document, they demanded information about his fate and for his right to legal representation. Unlike typical legal affairs in the United States, these men have been denied rights to regular procedure and sent to a foreign prison without any evidence that they had committed a crime.

On May 27, the company representing Widmer’s family rejected the trial With the possibility of rebuilding in the future. We do not know why the case was rejected; Daily Kos contacted the family lawyer to comment but did not immediately hear.

Like many prisoners, Widmer has no criminal record in the United States or in any other country in which he resided.

He Entered the country In September 2024 with his mother and two young brothers as part of the United Nations refugee resettlement program – an organization known to take years to check the candidates before approving them.

“To be admitted as part of this program, he underwent a total legal, psychological and health journal,” said Jhoanna. “These organizations do not move criminals.”

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But Widmer was detained on the American border after entering an immigration and customs agent on the premise of his tattoos affiliated with the gangs.

His tattoos – an owl, a clock and a rose – were enough to prevent him from finding his mother in Texas. And although he was able to communicate when he was in American detention establishments, his family had no communication with him since he was expelled in Salvador.

Government representatives did not explain any additional evidence and the trial was sealed to the public.

“To label someone a criminal, there must be a process – an investigation, a trial, then a decision,” insisted Jhoanna.

“None of this was done for Widmer. For what? Because they have no evidence. The only “proof” they have is that he is Venezuelan and has tattoos. But the tattoos do not define us – they do not make someone a criminal. ”

In a statement provided to Daily Kos, DHS deputy secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, said that Widmer is a member of Tren de Aragua who is “now outside our country and behind bars where it belongs”.

“DHS intelligence assessments go far beyond gang affiliation tattoos and social media. We are confident in the intelligence of our application of the law, and we are not going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security each time a member of a gang denies that it is one. It would be crazy. “

However, Jhoanna thinks that his visit to El Salvador to plead the case of his nephew provided a glimmer of hope.

“Before the trip, there was a lot of sadness, anxiety, despair, anxiety. As a family, we mixed days with nights in search of a solution, in search of help to release them and put the truth in the light,” she said.

“I think this trip has established a precedent and was a breakthrough in this whole process – not just for Widmer, but for the 252 Venezuelans who are detained there.”

So far, only one man who has been sent to Salvador – Kilmar Abrego García – has been returned to us guard after the courts said he was wrongly imprisoned. Despite the statements of the Trump administration that he is a dangerous MS -13 gang leader, Maryland’s father was quickly struck by new accusations of human smuggling – or an interrupted accusation of having given other immigrants a tour to a site.

Despite the chances, cost and distance, Jhoanna’s hope for the nephew that she loves as much as if he was her own child did not weaken.

“They broke his dreams, but I have faith that he will soon be free and will continue the life he has planned,” she said. “It was an incredibly difficult period in our lives, but I repeat: here I am, and he has a family that has not stopped fighting.”

“I know that his release is close. The trip was not easy – by making money, making the documents to enter the country legally – but if I have to do it again, I will do it,” said Jhoanna. “I will not rest before having my child in my arms.”

Editor Erika Chavez contributed to this report.

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