The US secretary of state says El Salvador has agreed to accept US deportees of any nationality – as well as violent American criminals currently behind bars in their own country.
While on a visit to El Salvador, Marco Rubio said President Nayib Bukele had “agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world”.
He added: “He’s also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentence in the United States even though they’re US citizens or legal residents.”
El Salvador is in effect being used as a “safe third country”.
Officials previously suggested such an agreement might be an option for Venezuelan gang members convicted of crimes in the United States, should Venezuela refuse to accept them.
Speaking before the deal was announced, Mr Bukele said they were discussing something “that does not have precedent in the history of the relationship, not just of the United States with El Salvador, but rather I think in Latin America”.
After Mr Rubio made his comments, a US official said that while Mr Bukele’s offer was significant, the Trump administration had no current plans to try to deport American citizens.
The US government cannot legally deport American citizens unless they broke the law to become a citizen or have committed treason. However someone who has been granted permanent residence in the US can be deported for certain felonies.
Human rights activists have claimed El Salvador does not have a consistent policy for the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.
Manuel Flores, secretary general of the leftist opposition party Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, said any agreement would mean the region was being used as Washington’s “backyard to dump the garbage”.
In 2023, El Salvador opened a “mega prison” as part of a crackdown on gang crime.
The “Terrorism Confinement Centre” in Tecoluca was completed in seven months and can hold 40,000 inmates.
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Mr Rubio – until recently a Florida senator – arrived in El Salvador after watching a US-funded deportation flight leaving Panama City for Colombia.
It was carrying 43 migrants detained by Panamanian authorities after illegally crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia.
The US has given Panama $2.7m (£2.2m) in flights and tickets.
Such deportations send a message of deterrence, the US State Department said.
“Mass migration is one of the great tragedies in the modern era,” Mr Rubio said.
“It impacts countries throughout the world. We recognise that many of the people who seek mass migration are often victims and victimised along the way, and it’s not good for anyone.”
