Nicaragua Jails Deportee Jeffrey Jarquin in the Same Prison Where He Was Once Tortured

The Associated Press reported October 5, 2026, that Jeffrey Jarquin, a Nicaraguan exile previously tortured as a political prisoner in Managua's El Modelo prison after the 2018 anti-government protests, was deported from the United States and jailed again in the same facility. Jarquin had fled to the U.S. and sought asylum; a Louisiana immigration court rejected his claim in July, and he was deported on a flight that arrived in Managua the week before the AP's report. His family and attorney confirmed his renewed detention at El Modelo, where a 2019 Organization of American States report found protesters including Jarquin had been tortured in cells known as "tiny hell."

Human Rights Watch has recorded more than 6,300 Nicaraguan deportations from the U.S. between January and July 2026, even as Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called conditions in Nicaragua "intolerable" in remarks to the OAS the week before Jarquin's removal. ICE did not respond to the AP's request for comment on his case.