El Salvador Offers to Hold US Inmates in Its Prisons in the Wake of Rubio's Visit

Bukele Offers to House American Convicts, Violent Immigrants for a Fee

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, offered quite an unprecedented offer to the United States: to house convicted criminals, including American citizens and violent illegal immigrants-provided a fee is paid.

In a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself, Bukele agreed to take in El Salvadoran gang members and convicted criminals from any country, a US State Department statement said.

Bukele went a step further by offering to incarcerate US citizens and legal residents convicted of crimes in El Salvador's maximum-security prisons. The US Department of State described the move as "an extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country." It is not known whether Washington will take up the offer.

Bukele: A Cost-Effective Prison Outsourcing Solution for the US

Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Bukele highlighted the financial benefits of his offer:

"We have offered the US the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system. The fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable."

The bill is in line with US President  Donald Trump's push to crack down on immigration. Rubio's tour to  Central America  is part of a broader effort to ink agreements to support Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.

US Seeks Tougher Immigration Policies

Under Trump's presidency, the US had forced Latin American nations to accept deported immigrants, including Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela. He also spoke of holding criminals in Guantánamo Bay, a detention center that has held some of the most notorious terrorism suspects in history.

US-Mexico border crossings skyrocketed under President Joe Biden, but have fallen sharply in recent months.

Bukele's Security Measures and International Influence

Bukele, an authoritarian leader by many measures, has fashioned himself as the "CEO of El Salvador." His popularity has risen with his aggressive crackdown on crime-which has led to the incarceration of over 2% of the adult population-and drastically reduced the rates of homicide.

He is in charge of the highly controversial mega-prison, the Centre for the Confinement of Terrorists, CECOT, considered one of the largest maximum-security prisons in the world. This August, it was reported to hold 14,500 inmates, which represents only 36% of the 40,000 capacity it holds. (Lea aqui la reseña completa)

Bukele's policies have made him a conservative darling in the US, especially after he rebranded El Salvador as a Bitcoin-friendly destination for investors and surfers alike.

Will the US Take Bukele's Prison Bait?

As El Salvador tries to cash in on its prisons, this offer by Bukele can be a soothing balm on burdened US correctional facilities. Yet, it remains a high-stakes offer whose reception by the Biden administration is not very clear.

As Rubio's diplomacy rolls on, so does the world's wait for El Salvador to become the newest destination for US inmates.

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