(MENAFN) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly offered to deport informants under US protection back to El Salvador to secure access to one of the country’s most notorious prisons.

The Washington Post reported that Rubio made the proposal during a phone call on March 13 with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. The deal was intended to allow the Trump administration to use El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) for deported migrants.

According to current and former US and Salvadoran officials, Bukele requested the return of nine imprisoned MS-13 gang leaders, including several informants protected by the US, in exchange for the arrangement. Rubio allegedly assured Bukele that Attorney General Pam Bondi would terminate the Justice Department protection agreements for these informants so they could be returned.

Officials told the Post that this move risked undermining years of work by US investigators who relied on the cooperation of gang members.

“The deal is a deep betrayal of US law enforcement, whose agents risked their lives to apprehend the gang members,” Douglas Farah, a US contractor who worked with federal officials on MS-13 investigations, said.

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott defended Rubio’s actions, stating that the diplomacy helped deport hundreds of gang members and made Americans “safer.” El Salvador’s government did not respond to requests for comment, according to the report.

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