The US’s extraterritorial concentration camps, currently located in El Salvador and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, represent an expanding threat that could spread to the US. These centers, initially intended for deported immigrants, could be normalized to include US citizens, following the model of current prisons, where abuse and overcrowding are common. The deprivation of legal rights, isolation from the outside world, and inhumane conditions in these camps, such as the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in El Salvador, which houses 40,000 people, portend a bleak future where dehumanization and the disappearance of people become common practice.
In El Salvador, prisoners face extreme conditions: they sleep on the floor or in dark solitary cells, suffer from diseases such as tuberculosis and severe malnutrition, and are subjected to torture, including waterboarding and exposure to ice water. According to reports from Human Rights Watch and the State Department, since the declaration of a “state of emergency” in March 2022, the situation has worsened, with an additional 72,000 people detained, resulting in at least 375 deaths. The case of Kilmar Ábrego García, unjustly deported and accused of being a gang member, illustrates how arbitrary deportations, even of legal citizens, are justified as “administrative errors,” without guaranteeing their return.
These camps not only seek to punish but also to intimidate society, using brutality as a tool of control. ICE’s mass surveillance, which collects data on the majority of Americans without judicial oversight, reinforces a system of fear reminiscent of historical totalitarian regimes. As Hannah Arendt points out, the denial of legal rights and the dehumanization of certain groups are steps toward total domination. The widely publicized concentration camps become warnings to those who oppose the regime, while vague accusations, such as “supporting Hamas” or being “domestic criminals,” serve to justify arbitrary detentions.
The concentration camp system, supported by figures like Trump and allies like Nayib Bukele, seeks to depersonalize detainees, strip them of their identities, and turn them into obedient masses. The lack of due process, forced transfers, and degrading conditions, such as head shaving and the use of numbered uniforms, reflect historical tactics of authoritarian regimes. As these practices become normalized, the regime requires a constant supply of victims, shifting from immigrants to activists, legal residents, and eventually, ordinary citizens. Without effective legal obstacles, this path to totalitarianism, which thrives on fear and the creation of perpetual enemies, represents an imminent threat to society.
