The United States has sent nearly 250 suspected migrant gang members to El Salvador, where they will be sent to a notorious mega-prison. El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, shared on X on Sunday that the flight carried 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, along with 23 people affiliated with MS-13.
“Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organisation, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country,” he said on X. Bukele posted a video showing several men in handcuffs and shackles being transferred from an aircraft to a high-security convoy. Tren de Aragua has been associated with kidnappings, extortion, organized crime, and contract killings.
Welcome to Hell
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Bukele in a meeting last month with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month proposed housing inmates from the United States in El Salvador. The hardline president has gained widespread popularity in his country for his tough stance against criminal gangs, though human rights organizations have criticized his methods.
In his post, he said that the suspected gang members were transferred to the nation’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT).
Rubio, in a separate statement, said that “hundreds of violent criminals were sent out of our country.” “I want to express my sincere gratitude to President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador for playing a pivotal role in this transfer.”
He further said that as part of the transfer, the U.S. also deported two “top leaders” of MS-13 to El Salvador, along with 21 of the gang’s most wanted members to face prosecution in their home country.
The $100 million prison, the largest in Latin America, was built in just seven months in 2022 as part of Bukele’s efforts to crack down on street gangs following the murder of over 60 people on March 26, 2022.
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The next day, Bukele imposed a State of Exception, granting expanded authority to law enforcement and the military. This led to mass arrests of suspected gang members, including affiliates of MS-13 and Barrio 18, without the need for court orders. The emergency measure also suspended rights such as freedom of assembly and communication privacy.
Committed to Punish Criminals
He, in his statement, added: “This will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors.”
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Bukele said El Salvador is committed to “advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action.”
“May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States,” he added.
The Terrorism Confinement Centre spans 410 acres, with 57 acres designated for the construction of eight pavilions, all enclosed by a 36-foot-high, 1.3-mile-long perimeter wall. Currently housing at least 13,000 prisoners, the facility has a maximum capacity of 40,000, surpassing the Marmara Penitentiaries Campus in Istanbul, Turkey.
The high-security prison is designed to prevent inmates from making outside contact via cellphones, using an advanced signal-blocking system.
To gain entry, prison staff, guards, and detainees must pass through an intricate registration process before moving through three secured sections protected by gates.
The facility’s eight cell blocks have cells made of steel bars, each capable of holding up to 100 prisoners. Inside each cell, there are 80 iron bunks without mattresses, along with two sinks and two toilets.
Each pavilion includes a windowless isolation cell designated for disruptive inmates. Gang members remain confined in their overcrowded cells for 23 and a half hours daily, with only 30 minutes allotted for movement—during which they are chained in the hallway.
Temperatures inside the cells can soar to a sweltering 95 degrees during the day, with no additional ventilation to provide relief.
Striking images from inside the facility often depict inmates wearing only white shorts, attempting to stay cool in the intense heat.
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Critics have labeled the facility a “black hole of human rights,” condemning it for allegedly violating international standards for prisoner treatment.
This comes after Donald Trump’s decided to use wartime powers to throw out migrants from the country. On Friday, Trump signed an order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, though it was not publicly revealed until Saturday.
The act grants the president the authority to detain or expel people from a nation considered an enemy. However, it has only been enforced three times in history, primarily during major global conflicts such as World War I and World War II.
