El Salvador Offers to House U.S. Criminals in Mega-Prison for a Fee

El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele has made a stunning offer to the United States: outsource part of its prison system to his country. Bukele’s proposal would allow El Salvador to incarcerate convicted criminals including U.S. citizens inside the country’s notorious mega-prison, CECOT, for a “relatively low” fee.

Bukele made the offer on X while hosting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was visiting the region to strengthen security and immigration enforcement efforts.

Key takeaways from the historic proposal:

• El Salvador is willing to house convicted U.S. criminals for a fee that Bukele says would be affordable for the U.S. but significant for his country.

• Salvadoran MS-13 gang members in the U.S. will be deported back to El Salvador as part of a new security agreement.

• Violent illegal immigrants from any country, including members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, will also be accepted into El Salvador’s prisons.

In an unprecedented move, Bukele even offered to imprison dangerous U.S. citizens and legal residents convicted of crimes. Rubio praised the agreement as a breakthrough in American-Latin American relations.

“President Bukele agreed to take back all Salvadoran MS-13 gang members who are in the United States unlawfully,” Rubio announced. “And in an extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country, he offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals.”

This agreement follows Bukele’s tough-on-crime policies, which have dramatically reduced El Salvador’s violent crime rates. His crackdown on gangs has been so effective that U.S. leaders are now looking to adopt similar methods.

Additionally, Rubio and Bukele signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement and secured new U.S. assistance to help El Salvador track illegal immigration threats. The two leaders also discussed strategies to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in Latin America.

For years, the U.S. has been overwhelmed by rising crime and an overburdened prison system. With soft-on-crime Democrats allowing criminals to roam free, Bukele’s offer provides a rare opportunity for real justice.

President Trump’s America First policies are already restoring law and order. Now, with strong international partners like Bukele, criminals have nowhere left to hide.

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