President Bukele’s proposal consists of imprisoning US criminals in El Salvador’s largest jail for a payment.
El Salvador’s president has proposed jailing convicts from the USA in his nation, an “unprecedented” supply praised by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Nayib Bukele made the supply whereas internet hosting Rubio at his Lake Coatepeque residence, outdoors San Salvador, on Monday.
Bukele mentioned El Salvador is able to imprison the convicted Individuals for cost in a jail he opened a 12 months in the past that’s the largest in Latin America.
“We’ve got provided the USA of America the chance to outsource a part of its jail system,” Bukele wrote on X. “The payment could be comparatively low for the US however important for us, making our total jail system sustainable.”
We’ve got provided the USA of America the chance to outsource a part of its jail system.
We’re prepared to soak up solely convicted criminals (together with convicted U.S. residents) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in trade for a payment.
The payment could be comparatively low for… pic.twitter.com/HTNwtp35Aq
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 4, 2025
Following the three-hour assembly, Rubio advised reporters that Bukele “agreed to essentially the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory settlement anyplace on this planet”.
“He has provided to deal with in his jails harmful American criminals in custody in our nation, together with these with US citizenship and authorized residency. No nation’s ever made a proposal of friendship comparable to this. We’re profoundly grateful.”
The US State Division describes El Salvador’s overcrowded prisons as “harsh and harmful”. The division’s web site, within the data on El Salvador, says “in lots of services, provisions for sanitation, potable water, air flow, temperature management, and lighting are insufficient or nonexistent”.
Rubio added that Bukele was additionally prepared to take again Salvadoran residents in addition to international nationals. He appeared to recommend the main target in El Salvador could be on jailing members of Latin American gangs, comparable to El Salvador’s MS-13 and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
“Any illegal immigrant and unlawful immigrant in the USA who’s a harmful felony – MS-13, Tren de Aragua, no matter it might be — he has provided his jails,” Rubio mentioned.
Since his return to the White Home final month, Trump has put precedence on rushing up deportation of tens of millions of individuals within the US who’re with out authorized standing.
Trump has additionally unveiled plans to detain 30,000 migrants on the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – a jail that earlier Democratic presidents hoped to shut.
Bukele, who has launched an unflinching safety crackdown in his nation, is seen by the Trump administration as a key ally in its migration efforts.
Since taking energy in 2019, Bukele’s authorities has arrested greater than 80,000 folks, bringing the variety of homicides down sharply in what was as soon as one of many world’s most violent international locations.
Whereas Bukele’s actions have faced criticism from human rights groups, which have documented mass torture and abuse within the nation’s overcrowded jails, he swept back to power last year with the general public grateful for the plunging crime.
