El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, commonly referred to as CECOT, is the country’s largest and newest prison, with a maximum capacity of 40,000 inmates. These prisons are called inhumane by rights activists 

Agencies SAN SALVADOR

El Salvador on Monday offered to house in its jails "dangerous criminals" from anywhere in the world deported by the United States, American  Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after lengthy talks with the Central American country's leader. Rubio, who is on his first oversees tour, is seeking support from countries in the region for the Trump administration's attempts to deport large numbers of migrants.

El Salvador has agreed to house violent US criminals and receive deportees of any nationality, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced in an unprecedented – and legally problematic deal – that has alarmed critics and rights groups. Rubio unveiled the agreement after meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, as part of a tour of several Central American countries intended to consolidate regional support for the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

“In an act of extraordinary friendship to our country … (El Salvador) has agreed to the most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world,” Rubio told reporters Monday. The country will continue accepting Salvadoran deportees who illegally entered the US, he said.

It will also “accept for deportation any illegal alien in the United States who is a criminal from any nationality, be they MS-13 or Tren de Aragua and house them in his jails,” Rubio  said – referring to two notorious transnational gangs with members from El Salvador and Venezuela. As well as smoothing the way for the US to send migrants back to their own countries, Rubio is trying to secure “third country” agreements, in which nations accept citizens of other countries that will not accept deportees.

In addition, Bukele “has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those of US citizenship and legal residents,” Rubio said. It is unclear whether the US government will take up the offer, however, with questions around the legality of such moves.  “The US is absolutely prohibited from deporting US citizens, whether they are incarcerated or not,” Leti Volpp, a law professor at UC Berkeley who specializes in immigration law and citizenship theory, told CNN over email.

Bukele later confirmed the agreement with Rubio on X, saying in a post, “We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted US citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee.” El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, commonly referred to as CECOT, is the country’s largest and newest prison, with a maximum capacity of 40,000 inmates.

“The fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable,” he added. Bukele has been credited with greatly reducing gang violence in the Central American country since launching a sweeping crackdown in 2022 that has seen more than 81,000 people jailed. But while the country’s crime rate has fallen, the treatment of those imprisoned has triggered outrage among human rights organizations who call El Salvador’s prisons inhumane.