Will Trump Outsource US Prisoners to El Salvador?
© AP Photo / Salvador MelendezA handcuffed Mara Salvatrucha gang member waits for the start of a court trial at the Isidro Menendez Judicial Center in San Salvador, El Salvador, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. El Salvador on Tuesday began a mass trial of over 400 alleged gang members, including purported leaders of the feared transnational crime group Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.
![A handcuffed Mara Salvatrucha gang member waits for the start of a court trial at the Isidro Menendez Judicial Center in San Salvador, El Salvador, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. El Salvador on Tuesday began a mass trial of over 400 alleged gang members, including purported leaders of the feared transnational crime group Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. A handcuffed Mara Salvatrucha gang member waits for the start of a court trial at the Isidro Menendez Judicial Center in San Salvador, El Salvador, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. El Salvador on Tuesday began a mass trial of over 400 alleged gang members, including purported leaders of the feared transnational crime group Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. - Sputnik International, 1920, 06.02.2025](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/01/0e/1081771025_0:161:3071:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_182c31a3884a29a9e32110fd9765a816.jpg)
© AP Photo / Salvador Melendez
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El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has offered to jail US deportees and violent criminals — including US citizens. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls it "unprecedented and extraordinary."
What’s in El Salvador's Proposal to Receive US Prisoners?
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele calls it "outsourcing" part of the US prison system
El Salvador would accept only convicted criminals -US deportees and criminals would be held in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison in Tecoluca
Bukele seeks a "fee" from the US, calling it "relatively low" for Washington but enough to sustain El Salvador’s prison system
What is the CECOT?
A 23-hectare mega-prison built in 2022 and opened in January 2023 amid a gang crackdown
Built at a cost of $115 million
Can hold 40,000 inmates but housed just 14,500 as of August 2024, potentially leaving room for US prisoners
El Salvador has a history of human rights abuses, harsh prison conditions and torture
© AP Photo / Salvador MelendezEl Salvador Prison
![El Salvador Prison El Salvador Prison - Sputnik International, 1920, 06.02.2025](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/02/18/1107784530_0:0:3071:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_4fa7c9f6e06e63091793f67966f71417.jpg)
El Salvador Prison
© AP Photo / Salvador Melendez
Is it Legal to Send US Citizens to El Salvador?
Trump said: “If we had the legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat”
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt told NPR that deporting US citizens would be unconstitutional
The US could hypothetically deport non-nationals to a third country, but it would require complex legal steps
Human rights groups warn that sending prisoners to El Salvador would raise serious concerns