SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — On Friday, the Trump administration announced ongoing discussions with El Salvador aimed at bringing back an agreement that would permit the United States to transfer non-Salvadoran immigrants to the Central American nation.
This renewed initiative would specifically target members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, with plans to place them in Salvadoran correctional facilities, according to Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. State Department’s special envoy for Latin America, during a media briefing.
The announcement follows a significant crackdown on gangs in El Salvador led by President Nayib Bukele. In 2022, Bukele suspended essential constitutional rights and oversaw the arrest of over 84,000 individuals—accounting for more than 1% of the nation’s populace—with many of those detained remaining incarcerated without formal charges.
Bukele’s administration has not publicly addressed a request for comments regarding these developments. While his actions have sparked human rights concerns, they have also led to a notable reduction in violence in a nation once dominated by the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs.
Despite the criticism surrounding democratic erosion, Bukele has gained admiration from many figures within the American right. Concurrently, mentions of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua have increasingly surfaced in Trump’s speeches and among right-leaning politicians.
Claver-Carone mentioned, “If we commit to reviving this agreement and include … members of the Tren de Aragua gang, I bet they’re going to want to go back to Venezuela instead of dealing with the Mara prisons in El Salvador,” revealing the administration’s strategic approach.
These discussions were highlighted ahead of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s upcoming visit to Latin America, where plans to arrive in El Salvador are scheduled for Monday. Rubio’s itinerary also includes stops in Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, with migration issues at the forefront of his discussions.
Rubio is expected to encourage Bukele and other regional leaders to collaborate with the Trump administration regarding immigration policies and to accept migrants from nations such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, which are typically resistant to deportation flights from the U.S.
While Claver-Carone did not elaborate on the particulars of what reviving the agreement would entail, it is reminiscent of the “Safe Third Countries” policy introduced by Trump in 2019. This initiative required asylum seekers to apply for protective status in countries deemed “safe” that they transited through prior to reaching the U.S.
The initiative faced significant backlash as many saw it as an attempt to limit asylum opportunities for vulnerable individuals. There were also serious concerns regarding the safety of migrants in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, regions rife with gang violence that often exploits vulnerable communities.
Reinstating this program would represent another step in Trump’s ongoing efforts to limit asylum access, continuing the initiatives he enacted during the early days of his presidency.
In the Friday briefing, Claver-Carone also declared Bukele as “the most consequential president in the region” and celebrated him as a crucial ally on migration challenges.
Despite a decline in Salvadoran migration to the U.S. in recent years, Bukele has implemented measures to hinder the flow of migrants traversing through his country en route to the U.S., responding to pressure from the Biden administration. As he has done so, the Biden administration has taken a more tempered approach, reducing its criticism of Bukele following earlier warnings about democratic decline in El Salvador.
