US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to discuss the potential deportation of suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador during an upcoming meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, as reported by Mauricio Claver-Carone, the State Department's Special Envoy for Latin America.

"We are considering a new agreement that may include members of the Tren de Aragua, who would prefer to return to Venezuela instead of sharing prisons with Salvadoran gangs like MS-13. This is one of the issues we intend to address, and how President Bukele can assist us," Claver-Carone stated during a press conference on Friday, commending Bukele’s security initiatives in recent years.

Since assuming office in 2019, President Bukele has implemented a strict security crackdown in El Salvador, arresting tens of thousands of people on suspicion of gang affiliation. Once plagued by the highest murder rate outside war zones, El Salvador now has fewer homicides than the United States, according to government data. However, human rights advocates argue that the Bukele administration’s approach is too broad, with new legislation allowing for the detention of citizens without evidence.

Last year, El Salvador opened a controversial high-security prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), for suspected gang members.

This development follows President Donald Trump's executive order on January 20, which recommended that the State Department initiate the process of designating the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as a foreign terrorist organization. The order highlighted both the Tren de Aragua and the Salvadoran MS-13 gang, describing their violent campaigns in the US and internationally as threats to regional stability.

Rubio is beginning his Central American tour this weekend and will arrive in San Salvador on Monday. Trump has prioritized controlling migration to the US, issuing numerous directives, including deploying thousands more troops to the southern border.

Each year, tens of thousands of migrants from the Northern Triangle countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras—attempt to enter the US. However, data from Customs and Border Protection indicates that border encounters with individuals from these countries decreased in 2024.