Bukele to Meet with Trump as El Salvador’s Mega-Prison Becomes Holding Ground for U.S. Deportees

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Exploring the implications of President Bukele’s agreement to detain deported Venezuelans in the controversial CECOT facility.

Summary

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in Washington in April. This follows a recent agreement in which Bukele agreed to house deported Venezuelans in El Salvador’s CECOT prison. Their first meeting occurred in 2019 during the UN General Assembly, where migration policies were also a key topic. Bukele has previously supported U.S. migration enforcement, including a 2019 deal to hold asylum seekers in El Salvador. This second meeting occurs amid controversy over Bukele’s willingness to detain Venezuelans deported without due process under Trump’s immigration policies.

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This would be the second time they meet, following a recent agreement between both presidents to house deported Venezuelans in the CECOT prison.

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele in April, as confirmed by a communication team from an international media outlet linked to the U.S. government.

The meeting will take place in Washington, according to Fox News, although the exact date is still unknown.

This will be the second time Bukele meets with Trump. Their first meeting occurred in September 2019, during the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

At that time, Trump also met with several Latin American leaders to discuss the crisis in Venezuela.

That meeting took place in a context similar to El Salvador’s current situation. Shortly before Bukele’s 2019 visit, Salvadoran officials had announced a migration agreement allowing the U.S. to send asylum seekers to El Salvador, requiring them to apply for asylum from there instead of within the U.S.

The agreement, signed by then-Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill Tinoco and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan, made El Salvador a temporary refuge for asylum seekers. The deal was widely criticized.

After the visit, Bukele held a press conference stating that the meeting focused on immigration status and the newly signed alliance between the two countries.

Bukele also announced that the U.S. would provide over 10,000 work visas for Salvadorans in the agriculture and industrial sectors, along with “tens of thousands” of additional visas for other industries.

He also promised a resolution for Salvadorans under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), claiming that he was working toward a “good” solution and that conditions were aligning for a “positive” agreement.

The announcement of this second meeting between Trump and Bukele comes at a time when Bukele has agreed to receive deported Venezuelans expelled by Trump without due process.

In February, Bukele accepted a deal in which the U.S. could deport undocumented migrants who committed serious crimes to El Salvador. He also offered Salvadoran prisons to house dangerous U.S. criminals.

As of now, 238 Venezuelans have been sent to El Salvador and are detained at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) since March 16. This deal has faced strong criticism, even internationally, due to potential human rights violations against the deportees.

Bukele’s meetings with U.S. presidents reflect El Salvador’s evolving relationship with the United States, particularly in the context of migration and security.

1. Migration and U.S.-El Salvador Relations:
   • The U.S. has historically influenced Central American migration policies, often pressuring governments like Bukele’s to cooperate with deportation and asylum agreements.
   • The 2019 agreement, under Trump, marked a shift where El Salvador agreed to function as a holding zone for asylum seekers, similar to Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.
2. Bukele’s Authoritarian Leanings & U.S. Support:
   • Bukele has positioned himself as a tough-on-crime leader, gaining popularity through his crackdown on gangs and his controversial use of mass incarceration.
   • Despite concerns about human rights abuses, his close ties with U.S. administrations—both Trump and Biden—show that Washington values his cooperation on migration and security.
3. Significance of This Meeting:
   • By hosting Bukele, Trump signals continued support for Bukele’s approach to crime and migration enforcement.
   • The meeting comes as Bukele faces international criticism for accepting deported Venezuelans under questionable conditions, reinforcing the perception that he is aligning with Trump’s hardline immigration policies.
   • Bukele may use this meeting to negotiate more U.S. work visas for Salvadorans and potential extensions of TPS protections.

This visit is not just another diplomatic meeting—it underscores how Bukele has positioned El Salvador as a key player in U.S. immigration enforcement, at the cost of human rights concerns.