The lockup currently houses thousands of members of gangs that terrorized the Central American country for decades.

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.

On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced during a visit to El Salvador that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has offered to incarcerate criminals deported from the U.S. in the Central American country’s CECOT mega-prison.

The Trump administration and the president of El Salvador said they struck a deal allowing the U.S. to ship detained migrants and imprisoned criminals to a mega-prison there

Unlike other Latin American leaders, El Salvador’s president is more than embracing US plans to move millions of undocumented migrants off its soil

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.