The recent deportation of MS-13 gang member and Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Ábrego García, whose gang affiliation invalidated his U.S. residency, has drawn attention to the Salvadoran prison where he is now being held. El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) is the brainchild of President Nayib Bukele, who operated on the premise that anyone bearing gang tattoos was likely a member, since non-gang-members with gang tattoos were often killed by gang members. Bukele tasked his police and military forces with rounding up known gang members and domestic terrorists, many of whom are now locked away in this ultra-secure facility.
Since the crackdown began in March 2022, El Salvador’s murder rate has dropped from 52 per 100,000 people in 2018 to just 2.4 per 100,000 in 2023. The country, once considered one of the most dangerous in Latin America, is now ranked among the safest in the region.
There have been some foreign nationals sent there as well, including deportees from the United States and more are expected. However, these are individuals believed to be gang members or…
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