The tiny Central America nation of El Salvador has offered to accept illegal aliens deported from the U.S., regardless of nationality, following a lengthy discussion with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
El Salvador would also house U.S. prisoners, a move that could ease overcrowding in American correctional facilities.
Rubio revealed the floated proposal on Monday following discussions with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. The move is part of broader crime-fighting efforts in El Salvador, particularly targeting violent gangs such as MS-13 and Barrio 18.
Bukele, who has made combating gang violence a centerpiece of his administration, has offered to detain deported U.S. criminals at the country’s new Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). Completed in January 2023, the maximum security facility has a capacity of up to 40,000 inmates and is one of the largest prisons in the world.
The New York Times has more on his groundbreaking proposal to accept any convicted criminal who has been deported from the United States:
“We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system,” Mr. Bukele wrote on X, saying his government was willing to take in convicted criminals, including U.S. citizens, for a fee. “The fee would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”
El Salvador was the second stop on Mr. Rubio’s first foreign trip as secretary of state. After meeting with Mr. Bukele on Monday, Mr. Rubio said that he had briefed President Trump on the offer, which he described as unprecedented.
We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 4, 2025
We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee.
The fee would be relatively low for… pic.twitter.com/HTNwtp35Aq
The State Department later added that Mr. Bukele had agreed to take undocumented migrants from any country, not just El Salvador, that have been convicted of crimes, including members of the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs.
Despite the sweeping scope of the offer, which Mr. Rubio described as “an act of extraordinary friendship,” deporting U.S. citizens would fly in the face of protections that make it illegal in all but the rarest of cases.
Since taking office in 2019, Bukele has implemented sweeping security reforms, including a state of emergency that suspended certain civil liberties, leading to mass arrests of suspected gang members. His policies have driven El Salvador’s homicide rate to historic lows, transforming what was once one of the world’s most dangerous nations into one of the safest in Latin America.
In just eight years, El Salvador’s homicide rate has plummeted—from a staggering 103 homicides per 100,000 people in 2015 to a mere 2.4 per 100,000 in 2023.
While human rights organizations have raised concerns over alleged abuses, arbitrary arrests and due process violations, Bukele remains widely popular among Salvadorans, who credit his hardline measures with restoring stability and security.
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