Secret $6 Million Contract to Outsource Detention to El Salvador's CECOT

What Happened

In February 2025, the Trump administration negotiated an unprecedented agreement with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to detain deportees from the United States at CECOT, El Salvador's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo — a mega-prison that has been widely documented as a site of systematic torture and human rights abuse.

Negotiation and Formalization

On February 3, 2025, Bukele posted on X offering the United States "the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system." Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visiting El Salvador at the time and met with Bukele to finalize the arrangement. Rubio later confirmed that the verbal agreement reached during that visit was formalized in a written agreement — one that has never been publicly released.

The $6 Million Payment

On March 16, 2025, Bukele announced the arrival of "the first 238 members" of Tren de Aragua from the United States, stating they would be imprisoned at CECOT "for a period of one year (renewable)." The following day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that "approximately $6 million" had been paid to El Salvador "for the detention of these foreign terrorists."

Secret Transfers and Disappearances

In March and April 2025, the US transferred over 280 people to CECOT in secret. No notice was given to their families or attorneys. The National Immigrant Justice Center and other organizations characterized this as the US government "disappearing" migrants into a foreign prison — with no legal process, no right to counsel, and no ability to challenge their transfer.

Documented Torture at CECOT

In November 2025, Human Rights Watch and Cristosal published "You Have Arrived in Hell," documenting systematic torture of the Venezuelan deportees at CECOT, including sexual violence, regular beatings, inadequate food, poor sanitation, and denial of medical care. HRW concluded these were not isolated incidents but systematic violations designed to subjugate and humiliate detainees.

Legal Analysis

The CECOT contract raises profound legal concerns:

Non-refoulement: The Convention Against Torture (Article 3) absolutely prohibits transferring any person to a state where there are substantial grounds for believing they face torture. Given the well-documented torture at CECOT — documented before the transfers occurred — the US had constructive knowledge that transferees would face torture.

State acquiescence in torture: Under CAT Article 1, torture includes acts committed "with the consent or acquiescence of a public official." By paying $6 million to fund detention in a facility where torture is systematic, the US is acquiescing in torture.

Unprecedented legal void: There is no US statutory authority for outsourcing federal detention to a foreign state. The arrangement places detainees beyond the reach of US courts, immigration judges, and constitutional protections — creating an extralegal detention regime.

Due process: The secret transfers without notice to attorneys or families violate fundamental due process protections under both US and international law.

Why This Is Classified Extreme

• Outsourcing to a torture facility: The US paid to send people to a facility where systematic torture was already documented before the transfers began.
• State-funded torture: $6 million in taxpayer funds directly enabling detention conditions that constitute torture under international law.
• Enforced disappearances: Transferees moved in secret with no notice to families or legal counsel — meeting elements of the international legal definition of enforced disappearance.
• Legal black hole: The arrangement places detainees beyond the reach of US courts and constitutional protections.
• Secret agreement: The written agreement has never been released, preventing legal scrutiny and public accountability.

International Law Violations

1. CAT Article 3 (Non-refoulement): Absolute prohibition on transfer to torture, violated by sending people to a facility with documented systematic torture.
2. CAT Article 1 (State acquiescence): Paying to fund detention in a facility where torture is systematic constitutes acquiescence.
3. ICCPR Article 7: Prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
4. ICCPR Article 9: Right to liberty and prohibition on arbitrary detention.
5. ICCPR Article 14: Right to fair trial and due process, denied by secret transfers without legal process.