Policies & Analysis

This agreement pays the government of El Salvador to allow the United States to imprison people in its most notorious prison. The agreement is dated one week after the U.S. government renditioned over 200 men to El Salvador on unverified, and at times clearly false, accusations of involvement with the Tren de Aragua gang, and outlines the payment of $4.76 million to the government of El Salvador to imprison those men and potentially others. The agreement contains no terms prohibiting torture, cruel or unusual punishment, or punishment of any kind (immigration detention is civil and must be non-punitive), or obligating the government of El Salvador to provide necessary medical care or access to legal counsel or protect civil rights in any way. Instead, it includes only pro forma prohibitions on using the money for terrorism or corruption, and provides details on how the money will transit through various banks into the El Salvadoran treasury.