Jailbnb: ‘Ship me your criminals – for a charge!’ says El Salvador as US appears to outsource jail system

US secretary of state Marco Rubio meets with President Nayib Bukele at his residence at Lake Coatepeque in El Salvador, Monday, February 3, 2025. (AP)

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on Tuesday provided to jail American criminals as a part of a plan for america to outsource a part of its jail system. US secretary of state Marco Rubio welcomed the supply, calling it an unprecedented gesture of friendship.
There isn’t a current instance of a democratic nation sending its personal residents to international prisons. Any such transfer would seemingly face authorized challenges in US courts.
Talking to reporters in San Salvador, Rubio mentioned, “He has provided to accommodate in his jails harmful American criminals in custody in our nation, together with these with US citizenship and authorized residency.”
He added, “No nation’s ever made a proposal of friendship akin to this. We’re profoundly grateful. I spoke to President Trump about this earlier at the moment.”

Jail with out borders

Bukele later confirmed the supply on social media, saying that El Salvador would cost a charge for the service.
“We’ve provided america of America the chance to outsource a part of its jail system,” Bukele wrote on X. “The charge could be comparatively low for the US however vital for us, making our complete jail system sustainable.”

Deal with gangs and migrants
Rubio mentioned Bukele’s supply additionally included accepting Salvadoran residents and nationals from different international locations. He recommended that the plan might concentrate on jailing gang members from teams like MS-13 in El Salvador and Tren de Aragua from Venezuela.
“Any illegal immigrant and unlawful immigrant in america who’s a harmful legal — MS-13, Tren de Aragua, no matter it could be — he has provided his jails,” Rubio mentioned.
Since returning to the White Home final month, President Donald Trump has prioritized deporting hundreds of thousands of individuals dwelling within the US with out authorized standing. He has additionally taken steps to restrict birthright citizenship, which is assured by the US Structure.
Trump has proposed detaining 30,000 migrants on the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Earlier Democratic administrations had aimed to shut the jail there.
The administration is especially targeted on deporting Venezuelans. Since taking workplace, Trump has ended a program that protected round 600,000 Venezuelans from deportation. This system was initially launched by former President Joe Biden, citing the disaster in Venezuela underneath President Nicolás Maduro.