President Donald Trump’s crackdown on “illegal aliens” advanced last weekend, as hundreds of alleged immigrants were sent to one of the world’s most notorious prisons. On Sunday, March 16, 238 individuals accused by US authorities of being members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang were transferred to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
This move followed a controversial deal between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, offering $6 million in exchange for a year of detention services. Trump stated on X, “Thank you to El Salvador, and in particular President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation… We will not forget.”
El Salvador, once overrun by gang violence, has seen crime drop sharply since Bukele’s 2019 crackdown. Under his leadership, thousands of suspected gang members have been jailed. CNN journalist David Culver visited CECOT, describing conditions where inmates are crammed into cells with up to 80 men and only get 30 minutes of exercise daily. “Once you arrive in CECOT, it is unlikely that you leave,” Culver noted.
Despite reports of 7,000 wrongful imprisonments, Bukele’s government dismisses them as “collateral damage.” This harsh reality may soon extend to anyone in the US labeled an “illegal immigrant.”
