President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on 'illegal aliens' in the United States took a significant step forward last weekend as hundreds of alleged immigrants were sent to a prison renowned as one of the world's worst.
Hundreds of immigrants, alleged by US authorities to be members of Venezuela's notorious Tren de Aragua gang, were transferred to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) on Sunday 16 March.
An order was passed by the Trump administration to send 238 supposed criminals to the mega-prison in El Salvador, despite a federal judge ruling against the order.
Advert
A deal was recently struck between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Salvadoran President, Nayib Bukele, which will see the country in Central America provide the US with a year's worth of detention services in exchange for $6 million (£4.6 million).
The President has already made it clear that he and his country are happy to incarcerate anyone who is deported from the United States.
On X, the President said: "Thank you to El Salvador, and in particular President Bukele, for your understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of Democrat leadership.
"We will not forget."
El Salvador was once a country torn apart by gang wars and criminal activity, but crime has been significantly reduced since Bukele's rise to power in 2019. The President declared a state of emergency, which, while controversial at the time, has seen police deployed in neighbourhoods across the country, while many former gang leaders and members now sit behind bars.
And there is little chance of escape, judging by a CNN report which shows journalist David Culver visiting the inside of the high-security prison located in Tecoluca, around two hours from the country's capital, San Salvador.
After numerous security checks, Culver is finally allowed into the prison where he is forced to stare down a particularly scary group of heavily-tattooed men. An interview with one inmate reveals that he was a gang leader in El Salvador, with many young men across the country likely to end up either in the hospital, in prison or in the cemetery if they are part of a gang.
You can forget about having your own personal space in this prison, as inmates are stuffed into group cells with as many as 80 other men, and are only let out for 30 minutes of exercise each day. Once you arrive in CECOT, it is unlikely that you leave, with legal and medical visits all done within the facility.
Although Culver's report suggests that around 7,000 people have been wrongly imprisoned in these horrific conditions, Bukele's government sees this as 'collateral damage'.
This nightmare situation could soon be a reality for anyone living in the US who is deemed to be an 'illegal immigrant'.
Topics: Donald Trump, Crime
James Moorhouse