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 Bukele, who labels himself as the "coolest dictator" and a "philosopher king," has built election success and immense popularity on an extreme security policy to combat gang violence in El Salvador, incarcerating large quantities of alleged gang members and securing a massive drop in homicides.

The Trump administration is assessing whether it could take up El Salvador's offer to house U.S. citizens convicted of crimes in its jails, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, despite the apparent illegality of such a move.

The proposal is almost certainly illegal, experts said, but President Trump’s eagerness to entertain it showed his willingness to embrace extreme measures to demonstrate he is tough on crime.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio commended El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele's proposal to house dangerous U.S. criminals in Salvadoran jails. The Trump administration plans to evaluate this offer.

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 on Monday (February 3) offered to house in its jails "dangerous criminals" from anywhere in the world deported by the United States, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after lengthy talks with the Central American country's leader.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he is reviewing an offer from the president of El Salvador to deport not just undocumented immigrants but also American prisoners to a mega-prison in the South American country.