The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has floated an unprecedented plan to house convicts from the United States in his country’s prisons, an idea that has raised eyebrows and even praise from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. That offer was floated in a meeting at Bukele’s Lake Coatepeque residence outside San Salvador.
Bukele went out of his way to suggest that El Salvador was ready to lock up convicted Americans in a brand-new prison-the largest in Latin America-in exchange for money that would be manageable for the U.S. but substantial for El Salvador. He wrote on X,
“We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system, making our entire prison system sustainable.”
After a three-hour discussion, Rubio said the agreement is a one-of-a-kind deal: “The most unprecedented, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.” He added that Bukele’s offer includes housing dangerous criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents currently in custody.
The US State Department described the prisons of El Salvador as “harsh and dangerous, with inadequate” conditions related to sanitation, potable water and general safety. But Rubio added that Bukele is willing to take both Salvadoran nationals and foreigners into his country – especially with a view to putting behind bars the members of notorious Latin American gangs such as MS-13 and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
“Any unlawful immigrant and illegal immigrant in the United States who is a dangerous criminal-MS-13, Tren de Aragua, whatever it may be — he has offered his jails,” Rubio said.
With the now-renewed focus on immigration control since his return to the White House, one of the most important things President Trump has done is expedite the deportation of millions of people who do not have legal status. His administration has also called for the detention of 30,000 migrants at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba-a prison that previous Democratic administrations worked to close.
Bukele is a hardline leader on security who has been viewed as a key partner in U.S. strategies on migration. His government has captured over 80,000 individuals since he came into office in 2019 and driven down homicide rates sharply in one of the most violent countries in the hemisphere. Despite criticism from human rights groups citing reports of mass torture and abuse in severely overcrowded jails, his administration remains popular due to the sharp fall in crime.
