Washington DC - Congresswoman Delia Ramirez has called for a hearing on the use of federal funds to pay El Salvador to detain people deported from the US in the notorious CECOT megaprison.

"I am concerned that, in paying the Salvadoran government to detain immigrants at CECOT, the Administration funded human rights violations with taxpayer dollars," Ramirez wrote in a letter to Andrew Garbarino, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

"I am also concerned that people who were clearly under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security – a detail which eventually enabled a prisoner swap – were subjected to abuses while detained," she continued.

"As a Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, I urgently request that we hold a hearing on how U.S. funds were used to enable these flagrant human rights abuses at CECOT."

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The Trump administration has sent nearly 300 people to El Salvador, 252 of whom were released earlier this month in a prisoner exchange with Venezuela.

Those who made it out have reported horrific conditions at the CECOT prison, including beatings and sexual assault.

Ramirez's letter highlights the nightmare experience of Andry Hernández Romero, a 32-year-old gay makeup artist who was accused of being a gang member due to his tattoos.

"Now in Venezuela, Hernández Romero attested to the abuses he endured in El Salvador, describing it as 'an encounter with death.' According to Hernández Romero, he was tortured, sexually abused, and denied food while detained," the Illinois Democrat wrote.

Hernández Romero was among the Venezuelan citizens released in the prisoner exchange. He has since reunited with his family and friends.

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Ramirez is now calling for greater scrutiny into the US' funding of such abuses.

"According to reports, the United States paid $6 million to El Salvador to hold immigrants in CECOT as part of an unprecedented deal. And according to documents reviewed by Senator Van Hollen, the Administration pledged up to $15 million as part of the deal," the congresswoman wrote.

"The money helped sustain El Salvador's penitentiary system, which currently costs $200 million a year."