US Prepares to Deport About 300 Alleged Gang Members to El Salvador

A young person walks past a mural in San Salvador, El Salvador, 07 March 2025. EPA/RODRIGO SURA

President Donald Trump's administration will pay El Salvador $6 million to imprison for one year about 300 alleged members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, in one of the first instances of the Central American country taking migrants from the United States.
The agreement follows discussions between El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio about housing migrants in El Salvador's notorious prison, The Associated Press reported. Bukele's government has arrested more than 84,000 people, sometimes without due process, since 2022 as part of his crackdown on gang violence in the small country.
Memos detailing the transfer did not disclose how the Trump administration identified the roughly 300 people as members of Tren de Aragua, a gang Trump repeatedly highlighted in the campaign and declared to be a terrorist organization.
“The Republic of El Salvador confirms it will house these individuals for one (1) year, pending the United States' decision on their long term disposition,” wrote El Salvador's ministry of foreign affairs in a memo obtained by the Associated Press.
The Central American nation and Trump administration last month struck a deal to house migrants detained in the United States. The Trump administration contended that El Salvador could even house American citizens, though the US cannot deport citizens to another country.
Rubio and Bukele discussed the specifics of the new transfer, which include a cost of about $20,000 to house each prisoner for the year. A State Department document also suggests that it may set aside $15 million to send to El Salvador to house additional members of the gang.
The Salvadoran memo also confirmed the country would take two men it said were members of the MS-13 gang, an organization that was initially comprised of Salvadoran migrants to the US and had gained an increasing foothold in El Salvador prior to Bukele's crackdown.
One man, Cesar Eliseo Sorto Amaya, was convicted of double homicide in El Salvador before he was caught illegally entering the United States, according to the US Justice Department. The other was charged under President Joe Biden's administration with being a high-ranking leader of the MS-13 gang.