Strong Support for Deportations including US Citizens to El Salvador's Notorious Mega-Prison

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Americans Back Tough Justice: Strong Support for Deporting Criminals to El Salvador's Notorious Mega-Prison

 

A growing number of Americans are voicing their support for the controversial approach to criminal justice—deporting convicted criminals, including U.S. citizens, to El Salvador’s infamously harsh Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). According to a new J.L. Partners/Daily Mail poll, 41 percent of registered voters are in favor of sending U.S. citizens convicted of serious offenses such as murder or rape to serve their sentences in the Central American nation’s maximum-security facility.

 

The support is even more striking when it comes to undocumented immigrants. A staggering 71 percent of respondents said they approve of deporting undocumented individuals who commit serious crimes to El Salvador. Only 14 percent of those surveyed opposed the idea. Additionally, 56 percent said they either strongly or somewhat approve of deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes of any level, not just serious offenses.

 

This hardline stance comes in the context of former President Donald Trump’s renewed focus on crime and immigration enforcement. Earlier this year, Trump oversaw the deportation of hundreds of gang members from groups like Tren de Aragua and MS-13 to CECOT, a sprawling prison complex built in Tecoluca, El Salvador in late 2022 as part of a national crackdown on gang violence. Trump has since expressed interest in expanding the use of this facility, stating that he would “love” to deport convicted U.S. citizens to the same prison where these gang members are held.

 

 

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has confirmed his country’s willingness to accept such transfers. “We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system,” Bukele said. “We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee,” he added. Bukele also shared images of inmates in the prison, showing them crouched tightly together with their hands on their heads—an image that has become emblematic of the brutal efficiency of the facility.

 

The idea of outsourcing incarceration to another country, particularly one with a controversial human rights record, might seem extreme, but it is gaining traction. A combined 35 percent of Americans polled said they support deporting undocumented immigrants to El Salvador even if they haven’t been convicted of a crime in the United States.

 

Trump’s hardline immigration policies continue to resonate with many voters. One of his key promises during his presidential campaign was to crack down on illegal immigration and associated crime. Within his first 100 days in office, 65,682 undocumented immigrants were deported, according to a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke to the Daily Mail. That figure represents nearly the entire number of the 66,463 undocumented people arrested in the U.S. during that time period.

 

Public awareness of these efforts is high, with six in ten Americans reporting they have heard a “great deal” or a “fair amount” about the deportation of Garcia, one of the notable cases associated with this policy.

 

The poll numbers suggest a growing appetite among the American public for severe consequences for criminal behavior—regardless of citizenship—and a willingness to embrace unconventional methods in pursuit of justice.

 

  Adpated by ASEAN Now from The Daily Mail  2025-05-01