El Salvador 'willing to take in' convicted criminals from the US—both citizens and illegal immigrants

Rubio said that the US was “profoundly grateful” to President Bukele for his offer and that no country had ever “made an offer of friendship such as this.”

Rubio said that the US was “profoundly grateful” to President Bukele for his offer and that no country had ever “made an offer of friendship such as this.”

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El Salvador has extended an offer to accept criminals from the US, including those both with or without US citizenship, in its state-of-the-art mega jail.

The offer came after a visit to the small Central American country by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. While there, Rubio met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who seemingly overnight turned his country from one of the world’s most dangerous to one of its safest with his no-tolerance approach to gang violence, especially from the deadly Satanic MS-13 street gang.

While this approach earned him some scathing headlines from corporate media abroad, it also earned him a re-election in 2024, winning 84 percent of the popular vote in a blowout victory.

Rubio said that the US was “profoundly grateful” to Bukele for his offer and that no country had ever “made an offer of friendship such as this.”

"He has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those with US citizenship and legal residency," though the US cannot legally forcefully transfer its own citizens to foreign prisons without due process.

Bukele would later verify his offer on X, adding that “we are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted US citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee."



He said that "the fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison sustainable."

The maximum-security jail, known as the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), holds up to 40,000 inmates. Tens of thousands with suspected gang affiliations were rounded up and placed in the prison, leading some relatives of the inmates to claim their loved ones were wrongly arrested. The crackdown, however, remains demonstrably popular with the vast majority of Salvadorans.

Amnesty International has criticized what they call the "gradual replacement of gang violence with state violence" in the country, which was dismissed by Bukele, who pointed to his massive electoral win as evidence that people were largely okay with the crackdown.

El Salvador marked the second destination in Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s inaugural international trip as the United States' chief diplomat.



His journey began in Panama, where he called for "immediate changes" to what he described as China’s "influence and control" over the Panama Canal.

On Tuesday, Rubio is set to meet with officials in Costa Rica and Guatemala, with discussions expected to center on illegal immigration and efforts to counter China's growing presence in the region.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has prioritized accelerating the deportation of illegal immigrants, vowing to carry out "mass deportations."


Image: Title: bukele
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