El Salvador’s Bukele Offers To House U.S. Criminals In His Country’s Jails

Topline

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele offered to house criminals from any nationality deported from the U.S.—including “dangerous criminals” who are American citizens—in his country’s jails, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday, calling the offer “extraordinary.”

Key Facts

Rubio, who is on a diplomatic visit to El Salvador, told reporters in a news conference that Bukele has “agreed to accept for deportation any illegal alien in the United States who is a criminal from any nationality.”

Bukele also offered to house in his country’s jails “dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those of U.S. citizenship and legal residents.”

Aside from these offers, Bukele also agreed to continue with “full cooperation” in taking back Salvadorans deported from the U.S.

Rubio said no country has “ever made an offer of friendship such as this” and hailed it as the “most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.”

The secretary of state said he spoke with President Donald Trump about this offer “earlier today” and called Bukele an “incredible friend” of the U.S.

Rubio didn’t provide any details on Trump’s reaction to the offer or whether he would be willing to accept it.

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What Has Nayib Bukele Said About The Offer?

In a post on X, Bukele wrote that his country has offered the U.S. “the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system” and added that his country is willing to take in “convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison…for a fee.” The Salvadoran president said the fee would be “relatively low” for the U.S., but “significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”

What Is The Reaction To Bukele’s Offer?

While Trump has yet to comment on the offer, it received a stamp of approval from the president’s close ally and billionaire Elon Musk, who called it a “Great idea!!” in a post on X.