Under U.S. immigration law, a country such as El Salvador can accept someone deported from the U.S. who isn’t a citizen of that country if the person’s homeland refuses to accept them, says Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former homeland security official under the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

President Nayib Bukele has offered to jail deported criminals from the United States. His prisons have earned him a reputation as being tough on crime, but have raised alarms over rights abuses.

Migrants deported from the US, and even “dangerous” American citizens convicted of heinous crimes could be headed to a notorious hellhole prison in El Salvador, where inmates live in over-crowded cells and rival gang members fight to the death over food and water.

El Salvador has offered to take in people deported from the U.S. for entering the country illegally as well as the country’s violent criminals — even if they’re American citizens

El Salvador has agreed to receive deportees from the United States of any nationality, as well as violent criminals who are US citizens currently imprisoned, in an unprecedented deal that has alarmed critics and rights groups.

He met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and senior officials at Bukele's residence on Lake Coatepeque outside the capital for almost three hours, where they agreed to go beyond El Salvador's acceptance of its own deported citizens.

It is unclear whether the Trump administration plans to send incarcerated U.S. citizens to El Salvador. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is “grateful” for the offer.