The Trump administration is in discussions with El Salvador to potentially reinstate an agreement allowing the U.S. to send non-Salvadoran migrants, including members of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, to Salvadoran facilities. This initiative follows El Salvador’s aggressive anti-gang measures led by President Nayib Bukele, who has controversially detained over 84,000 individuals—over 1% of the population—amidst claims of human rights violations. Bukele’s administration, despite criticism regarding democratic practices, has garnered support from certain U.S. right-wing politicians due to its marked reduction in violence, previously attributed to gangs such as MS-13 and Barrio 18.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, the State Department’s special envoy for Latin America, indicated that handling Venezuelan gang members might encourage them to repatriate rather than face Salvadoran prisons, as Donald Trump appears to leverage this situation for his political agenda. Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to visit Latin America to discuss migration, with a focus on persuading Bukele to collaborate on expelling migrants from Nicaragua and Cuba, who typically resist deportation releases. The revival of this agreement is seen as a continuation of Trump’s strategy to limit asylum claims, having previously implemented the “Safe Third Countries” initiative, which faced considerable backlash for allegedly jeopardising the safety of migrants.