America’s New Penal Colony? Bukele Offers to House U.S. Deportees and Prisoners
The Trump administration’s themes so far this week have been international diplomacy and antagonism. President Donald Trump initiated—and lost—his first round of tariff wars with our closest allies, Mexico and Canada. Yet, that didn’t stop Secretary of State Marco Rubio from venturing into Central America and coming back with an unprecedented proposal.
Essentially, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele is offering El Salvador as a modern-day penal colony for the U.S.
El Salvador is offering the U.S. use of its mega-prison to hold deportees and incarcerated American citizens
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), President Nayib Bukele confirmed Secretary Rubio’s claim that El Salvador is willing to help outsource prison needs. The unprecedented tentative agreement between the U.S. and El Salvador is a stunning move by both countries.
“We can send them and he will put them in his jails,” Secretary Rubio told CBS News about sending deportees to El Salvador regardless of nationality. “He’s also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentences in the United States even though they’re U.S. citizens or legal residents.”
The move is drawing shock and concern from human rights activists. According to CBS News, activists claim that El Salvador doesn’t have consistent policies for handling asylum seekers and refugees. Activists also argued these inconsistent policies could allow the U.S. to exploit El Salvador and send people without convictions and dangerous criminals.
The decision is already facing backlash due to its perceived illegality
According to Newsweek, the decision could have constitutional implications. The article argues that the announcement of potentially sending American citizens and legal residents to prisons abroad runs afoul of both the Fourteenth Amendment, which denies citizens the right to due process and immunities, and the Sixth Amendment, which blocks citizens from the right to counsel and the court system.
The Trump administration has already made it clear that they are against the Fourteenth Amendment, which also guarantees birthright citizenship.
President Bukele’s announcement comes one year after he won reelection, which has not sat well with Salvadorans in the U.S. According to WTTW, protesters in Chicago gathered after his electoral victory to call for transparency in the election in El Salvador. Citing the Salvadoran constitution, AP News reported that his campaign for a second term was illegal.
According to AP News, President Bukele controls all three of El Salvador’s government branches. In 2021, the constitutional court, which his supporters in Congress selected, ruled that he is permitted to seek reelection and ordered the electoral court to allow it. This decision legitimized his bid for a second term.
President Bukele is wildly popular in El Salvador due to his iron fist governance on crime and gangs in the Central American country
President Bukele’s promise in his first campaign was a swift and brutal crackdown on gang activity, and it appears it is working. According to PBS, the multi-year crackdown has transformed El Salvador from one of the deadliest countries in Latin America to one of the safest.
This has not come without its own pitfalls and violations. According to PBS, thousands of innocent Salvadorans have been rounded up in the sweeping crackdown on gang activity. During the interview for PBS, a police officer in El Salvador confirmed the arrests and detention of innocent people.
The officer elaborated that the police went along with the arrests because they thought the people would be released when found innocent, but that is not happening. Innocent people remain incarcerated in El Salvador, collateral damage in a far-reaching campaign to curb gang activity.
