A new controversial agreement between the United States and El Salvador will allow all deported individuals, regardless of nationality, to be imprisoned in El Salvador. The policy, announced during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to San Salvador, means that deportees sent from the U.S. could serve their sentences in El Salvador’s prison system, even if they are not Salvadoran citizens.

U.S. Deportees to Be Incarcerated in El Salvador

Under this unprecedented deal, any individual deported from the United States who has committed a crime can be jailed in El Salvador, including non-Salvadoran nationals. This means that someone who is deported from the U.S., regardless of their home country, could end up serving time in El Salvador’s high-security prisons. While the U.S. has not confirmed plans to deport American citizens, the agreement reportedly allows for the possibility of imprisoning convicted criminals from the U.S. in El Salvador.

El Salvador’s Mega Prison to House Deportees

Most of the deported individuals will be sent to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), El Salvador’s massive high-security prison, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates. This facility, known for its harsh conditions and strict security, has been used to imprison thousands of gang members under President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on crime. Human rights organizations have expressed concerns over the treatment of inmates in Salvadoran prisons, raising questions about how deportees will be handled.

Legal and Humanitarian Concerns

This agreement raises serious legal and human rights questions. Normally, deported individuals are sent back to their country of origin, but under this policy, people with no ties to El Salvador could be jailed there indefinitely. Many deportees will face language barriers, cultural isolation, and lack of legal support. Additionally, international law may not support detaining non-Salvadorans in El Salvador, leading to potential legal battles.

What This Means for Future Deportations

The full impact of this agreement remains uncertain, but it signals a dramatic shift in U.S. deportation policy. By outsourcing incarceration to El Salvador, the U.S. avoids the burden of housing and processing criminal deportees, but at the cost of potential legal and diplomatic conflicts. For deported individuals, this could mean long-term imprisonment in one of the world’s toughest prison systems, far from their home country and family. As details continue to emerge, human rights groups and legal experts will likely challenge the ethics and legality of this new policy.