Trump sees an asylum deal with El Salvador to deport migrants there

Washington – The Trump administration is developing an asylum deal with the government of El Salvador that would allow the United States to deport migrants to the small Central American country who are not from there, two sources familiar with the internal deliberations told CBS News.

The arrangement, known as a “safe third country” agreement, would strengthen US immigration authorities to deport non-Salvadoran migrants to El Salvador, blocking them from applying for asylum in the United States. Instead, the migrants would be deported with instructions to seek asylum in El Salvador, which would be designated a “safe third country.”

The plan, if finalized, would revive an agreement the first Trump administration brokered with the government of El Salvador, although that agreement was never implemented and was eventually terminated by former President Joe Biden’s administration.

A safe third country deal could be a major breakthrough for the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration plans, allowing it to deport migrants from various countries, including Venezuela, that limit or outright reject US deportations of their citizens.

One of the internal plans under consideration would allow the United States to send deportation flights to El Salvador that include suspected members of the Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that President Trump has made a focal point of his crackdown on illegal immigration. A few hours after his inauguration, Mr. Trump officials to start the process of designating Tren de Aragua as a terrorist group.

If that plan goes through, it is unclear how El Salvador would deal with the deported gang members. Under President Nayib Bukele, the Salvadoran government has subdued El Salvador’s notorious gangs, including MS-13, through a mass incarceration campaign.

Bukele’s government is expected to be a key ally of the Trump administration. Bukele enjoys wide popularity in El Salvador, and among American conservatives, largely because of his anti-gang policies, which international groups say have involved due process violations.

The White House said Mr. Trump and Bukele spoke by phone Thursday and discussed “working together to stop illegal immigration and crack down on transnational gangs like the Tren de Aragua.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has pledged to make curbing mass migration a top priority, is also scheduled to visit El Salvador in early February as part of a trip to Latin America set to start later this week.

Representatives for the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Trump has already moved quickly to launch his sweeping immigration crackdown, giving deportation officers broader authority to arrest and deport unauthorized immigrants, closing access to the asylum system at the U.S.-Mexico border and drawing on the U.S. military’s vast resources for immigration enforcement. through an emergency notification.

Military aircraft is now being used to deport migrants crossing the southern border illegally, and additional active troops have been deployed there to set up barriers designed to repel illegal crossings. Longstanding federal law generally prohibits the military from engaging in civilian law enforcement.

A secure third country agreement will add another layer to Mr. Trump’s efforts to seal off US borders to migrants and asylum seekers through both physical barriers and far-reaching policy changes.

It is unclear how such an arrangement would interact with Mr. Trump’s other moves on asylum, including giving border agents the authority to quickly deport migrants without allowing them to claim legal asylum. His administration is also reinstating a rule, known as Remain-in-Mexico, that requires asylum seekers to stay outside the United States while their cases are reviewed.

Currently, the US has one safe third country agreement. Under this arrangement, the US and Canadian governments exchange asylum seekers who cross their shared border. The first Trump administration falsified asylum deals with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Only the one with Guatemala entered into force, and all three agreements were suspended when Biden took office.