Trump administration in talks to send Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador prisons

The Trump administration has stated it is in negotiations with El Salvador to revive an agreement that could allow the U.S. to send non-Salvadoran migrants to the Central American country. The negotiations also aim to send members of the Venezuelan gang "Tren de Aragua" to Salvadoran prisons.

Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. State Department's special envoy for Latin America, revealed this information during a call with the media. This move comes after Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's crackdown on gangs in the country. Bukele suspended key constitutional rights in 2022 and arrested 84,000 people, over 1% of the country's population, most of whom remain detained without being sentenced.

While Bukele's crackdown has drawn human rights criticism, it has also led to a sharp decline in violence in El Salvador, a country long plagued by the "Mara Salvatrucha" (MS-13) and "Barrio 18" gangs. Despite concerns about democracy, Bukele has won the admiration of many on the American right. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan gang "Tren de Aragua" has also become a buzzword in Trump's speeches and among right-wing politicians.

Claver-Carone stated, "If we are committed to reviving this agreement and including members of the 'Tren de Aragua' gang, I bet they would rather return to Venezuela than stay in a Salvadoran Mara prison." He also indicated that these talks are taking place before Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Latin America. Rubio is scheduled to visit El Salvador on Monday, after having already visited Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic.

Immigration is a top agenda item for this visit, and Rubio is likely to push allies like Bukele to help the Trump administration combat immigration and accept migrants from countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba that do not accept U.S. deportation flights. Claver-Carone did not provide more details about the "revived" agreement. In 2019, Trump implemented a program called "Safe Third Country," requiring people to seek protection in a country deemed "safe" before reaching the U.S. border. However, the plan was heavily criticized as a way to prevent people from seeking asylum in the U.S., and there were concerns about the safety of vulnerable populations in gang-ridden countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Reviving this plan would be the latest move by Trump to curtail asylum opportunities after a series of executive actions taken early in his presidency. During the call on Friday, Claver-Carone also called Bukele "the most influential president in the region" and an "ally" on immigration issues. As the number of Salvadoran migrants to the U.S. has decreased in recent years, Bukele has taken steps to stop migrants from passing through his country towards the U.S. under pressure from the Biden administration. Meanwhile, after warning about democratic backsliding in El Salvador, the Biden administration has also lowered its criticism of Bukele.