PRESIDENT Donald Trump is to send American criminals to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prisons in a breakthrough migrant deal.
President Nayib Bukele has made an “extraordinary” offer, proposing to transfer some of the most dangerous criminals currently held in US jails to El Salvador to serve their sentences.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that Bukele agreed to the migratory agreement that will see US deportees of any nationality locked up.
Senator Rubio expressed satisfaction with the proposal, stating that Bukele had agreed to what he described as the most “unprecedented, extraordinary, migratory agreement anywhere in the world” after intense negotiations at the president’s lakeside residence near San Salvador.
Furthermore, Rubio revealed that Bukele had indicated a willingness to reciprocate the gesture by potentially sending some of the most dangerous American criminals back to the US, despite their US citizenship or legal residency status.
Rubio was visiting El Salvador on Monday to turn screws on the country to meet Trump’s demands for a major crackdown on immigration.
Bukele confirmed the offer in a post on X, explaining that his country would only accept convicted criminals and would charge the US a “relatively low” fee.
Tesla tycoon and Trump’s right-hand man Elon Musk responded to the post: “Great idea!”
Bukele agreed to take back blood-thirsty Salvadoran MS-13 gang members residing in the US unlawfully, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce explained in a statement.
She added that the Salvadoran president also “promised to accept and incarcerate violent illegal immigrants, including members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, but also criminal illegal migrants from any country”.
In regards to the country also accepting to lock up dangerous American criminals, Bruce dubbed it as an “extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country”.
El Salvador is renowned for its brutal jails, especially the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre mega-prison which houses some of the country’s most violent gangsters.
Incredible images show thousands of violent skinhead gangsters from the country’s main gangs, MS-13 and Barrio 18, crammed into an inescapable mega-prison.
Pictures show rows and rows of prisoners sitting with their hands behind their shaved heads at the high-tech prison.
Other images reveal gang members stripped down to only white shorts running through the facility.
Meanwhile, prison officers armed with assault rifles are guarding the inmates.
Secretary of State Rubio spoke in San Salvador shortly after Trump shelved his punishing tariff plans for 30 days for Canada and Mexico in a last-gasp deal.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would go forward with a massive round of border security measures after desperate crisis talks with Trump on Monday.
Similarly after conversing with the US president, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the country’s National Guard.
Rubio arrived in San Salvador shortly after witnessing a US-funded deportation flight with 43 migrants onboard leave Panama for Colombia.
It came a day after Rubio delivered a stern warning to Panama that unless the government moved immediately to rid China’s chilling presence at the Panama Canal, the US would retake control.
The notion of El Salvador accepting foreign nationals arrested in the US for violating immigration laws is dubbed a “safe third country agreement”.
Officials have hinted that this could be an option for brutal Venezuelan gang members convicted of crimes in the US if Venezuela were to refuse to accept them.
Meanwhile human rights activists have warned that El Salvador lacks a consistent policy for the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees – arguing that the agreement might not be limited to violent criminals.
Manuel Flores, the secretary general of the leftist opposition party Farabundo Mart National Liberation Front, slammed the safe third country plan and said it would signal that the region is Washington’s “backyard to dump the garbage”.
Following the meeting with Bukele, Rubio signed a memorandum of understanding, or a non-binding agreement that outlines their intentions to work together, with his Salvadoran counterpart.
This is to advance US and El Salvador civil nuclear cooperation, which could lead eventually to a more formal deal involving medicine too.
The deportation flight Rubio witnessed being loaded in Panama City contained migrants detained by Panamanian authorities after illegally crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia.
The State Department claimed such deportations gave a message of deterrence.
The US has thrown financial assistance at Panama to the tune of nearly an eye-watering $2.7 million in flights and tickets since an agreement was signed to fund them.
Rubio stood on the tarmac and personally watched the flight taking 32 men and 11 women back to Colombia go into the sky.
Witnessing a law enforcement operation of this kind is known to be very unusual for a secretary of state to do – especially in front of cameras.
Speaking afterwards, Rubio said: “Mass migration is one of the great tragedies in the modern era.
“It impacts countries throughout the world.
“We recognize that many of the people who seek mass migration are often victims and victimized along the way, and its not good for anyone.”
How Trump’s migrant standoff with Colombia is warning to all leaders
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
DONALD Trump’s migrant standoff with Colombia was a signal to all world leaders – and shows nothing is off the table, an expert said.
America’s allies will have to “roll with the punches” as the president brings his America First agenda back to the world stage.
Colombia caved and accepted the return of its own illegal immigrants after Trump threatened to hit the South American nation with tariffs and sanctions.
Trump had planned to slap a 25 per cent tariff on Colombian imports – and revoke the visas of government officials.
The row came after Colombia stopped two US military aircraft packed with their own citizens from landing in the country last Sunday.
Just two hours after Trump’s threat, Bogota did a U-turn and agreed to accept migrants with the White House then dropping the threat.
Defiant Don later posted a computer-generated image of him standing beside a sign reading FAFO – which usually stands for “f**k around, find out”.
Foreign policy analyst Michael O’Hanlon, from the Brookings Institute, said the migrant standoff was a clear warning to world leaders.
Bogota’s backdown will encourage Trump to threaten allies more, he added.
Trump now appears to have a “willingness not to play Mr Nice guy on the world stage” with his second presidency.
O’Hanlon told The Sun: “I think Trump has realized that – legally and otherwise – the tariff option is a attractive one, and the opening salvos on this front have been encouraging as well.”
Don’s moves could also make America’s allies more friendly to Trump – and change their behaviour as they try and avoid his wrath.
O’Hanlon said: “Trump will certainly feel that the fact that a lot of leaders around the world seem to be trying to engage with him is validation of his basic theory of the case – that he can threaten them.
“I think what they’re [allies] getting now is sort of what they knew was coming.”
