Jennifer Vasquez Sura (right), the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, stands with supporters at a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., on April 4, 2025.
Jennifer Vasquez Sura (right), the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, stands with supporters at a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., on April 4, 2025.
Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., recently made a social media post featuring selfies in front of a crowded cell and another photo of himself giving a double thumbs up in front of a large capacity holding cell from a visit to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, touting his support for mass deportations.
His post was dehumanizing and a disgrace to the office he holds and the people he represents.
“I just toured the CECOT prison in El Salvador. This maximum security [sic] facility houses the country’s most brutal criminals, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and terrorists. Several inmates were extremely violent criminals recently deported from the U.S.,†Moore wrote in the social media post. “I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland.â€
Moore was referring to Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, where the Trump administration has shipped massive numbers of immigrants rounded up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps. The administration has claimed those detained and shipped out of the country are illegal immigrants who have committed violent crimes or are members of gangs.
However, the administration has provided little to no proof of these claims. In fact, as West Virginia MetroNews noted in its report on Moore’s reprehensible behavior, one of the detainees in CECOT is Kilmar Armendo Abrego Garcia, a Maryland sheet-metal worker with no criminal background who was deported through an “administrative error.†The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Garcia should be returned to the United States. But, so far, the Trump administration has defied that ruling, causing many to wonder if this is about illegal immigration at all.
It’s certainly not how justice is supposed to work in the United States. Yes, illegal immigration is an issue. Yes, gang violence is a problem. But rounding up thousands on specious accusations, shaving their heads and shipping them out of the country is dystopian. Moore’s support of the effort and posing for photos in front of detainees as if they are props is deeply disturbing, mirroring episodes from some of history’s darkest times.
Of course, there are some who will cheer Moore’s actions, which makes this even more troubling. Hopefully, most West Virginians and their fellow Americans see this for what it is and are rightfully disgusted.
Riley Moore is a Republican representative for West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District.
