The country will continue accepting Salvadoran deportees who illegally entered the US, he said. It will also "accept for deportation any illegal alien in the United States who is a criminal from any nationality, be they MS-13 or Tren de Aragua and house them in his jails," he said – referring to two notorious transnational gangs with members from El Salvador https://at-kra28.cc and Venezuela.

In addition, Bukele "has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those of US citizenship and legal residents," Rubio said.

It is unclear whether the US government will take up the offer, however, with questions around the legality of such moves. Any effort by the Trump administration to deport incarcerated US nationals to another country would face significant legal pushback.