El Salvador has offered to house “dangerous criminals” from anywhere in the world, including those deported from the US, in its jails. This proposal was made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his first overseas tour as top diplomat.
Rubio met with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and discussed ways to help the Trump administration deport large numbers of migrants. As part of this effort, El Salvador has agreed to accept US citizens and legal residents who have committed crimes.
The proposal is seen as a way for the US to “outsource” part of its prison system to El Salvador. The country’s president, Bukele, suggested that the US pay a fee for each prisoner housed in El Salvador’s facilities.
However, critics have raised concerns about the conditions in El Salvador’s prisons, with reports stating that they are overcrowded and lack basic amenities such as sanitation and potable water.
The move is part of a broader effort by President Trump to deport large numbers of migrants from the US to Central America. The Trump administration has also removed protection against deportation for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the US.
Rubio’s proposal is seen as an attempt to secure “third country” agreements, where countries accept citizens of other nations that will not accept deportees.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rubio-meet-el-salvadors-bukele-amid-migration-push-2025-02-03