The Trump administration is reportedly considering sending U.S. prisoners to be incarcerated in what’s been called the ‘world’s worst prison.’
El Salvador’s mega-prison, CECOT (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism), which opened in 2023, has space for up to 40,000 inmates and has drawn heavy criticism from human rights organizations over its harsh conditions.
On February 4, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that El Salvador’s president had agreed to a groundbreaking deal regarding American prisoners.
“We can send them, and he will put them in his jails,” Rubio stated. “He’s also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving sentences in the United States, even if they are U.S. citizens or legal residents.”
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, confirmed that he had offered the U.S. the option to outsource part of its prison system, allowing convicted criminals to be housed in El Salvador for a fee. However, a U.S. official later clarified that there were no current plans to send U.S. citizens to El Salvador despite the proposal.
Legally, the U.S. government cannot deport its own citizens, meaning that if the plan were to move forward, only foreign nationals arrested in the U.S. would be sent to the notorious facility.
CECOT has been widely criticized for its inhumane conditions. Prison director Belarmino García told CNN that inmates receive minimal meals, stating, “Here, what they get for breakfast is beans, cheese, or a mix of rice and beans, maybe plantain, and a cup of coffee or atole.”
Lunch at CECOT consists of rice, pasta, and a beverage, while dinner is the same as breakfast. According to prison director Belarmino García, “Meat doesn’t exist here, chicken doesn’t exist here, special menus don’t exist for anyone.”
Inmates are subjected to strict conditions, constantly monitored by armed guards and never experiencing true darkness, as the prison’s artificial lights remain on at all times. With little ventilation, indoor temperatures can reach 35°C (95°F).
Prisoners sleep on four-story metal bunk beds without mattresses or sheets, forced to rest on hard metal surfaces.
Miguel Sarre, a former member of the United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture, described the facility as a “concrete and steel pit,” claiming that for some inmates, it serves as a way to “dispose of people without formally applying the death penalty,” as they may never be released.
