El Salvador Offers to Jail All US Deportees, Including Convicted US Citizens, For 'Relatively Low' Fee

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. Mr. Rubio said that El Salvador had proposed jailing undocumented migrants who have been convicted of crimes and deported from the United States. The secretary said Mr. Bukele had offered to also accept convicted criminals who are currently serving their sentences in the United States, “even if they are U.S. citizens or legal residents.” 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.

El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele is offering to accept all criminal deportees from the U.S. regardless of their nation of origin, in addition to offering prison space for Americans behind bars. The offer follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting Monday with Bukele, whose country is part of the Northern Triangle of Central America, from which many migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border come. "We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system," Bukele wrote on the social media platform, X. "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 the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.

Bukele made the offer in a post on X while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited his country as part of an extended trip throughout Latin America to shore up support for tackling illegal immigration. “We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system,” said Bukele. “We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee,” he continued. He added, “The fee would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.” Rubio’s office said the meeting was “tremendously successful” and resulted in multiple agreements that “will make both countries stronger, safer, and more prosperous.”