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
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