Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States is in talks with multiple countries to try to get them to take people from third countries who are in the United States illegally.
“We are working with other countries to say, ‘We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings to your countries,'” Rubio said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30. “‘Will you do that as a favor to us?’ And the further away the better, so they can’t come back across the border.”
Rubio emphasized that the conversations are with “not just El Salvador.” He didn’t name the countries, but the Washington Post reported earlier this month there could be as many as 30.
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The United States already has this type of agreement with the government of El Salvador, which notably has been accepting Venezuelan nationals and housing them in the country’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT. Among them were Maryland’s Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Rubio said the United States has also sought to have countries take back their own citizens who are in the country illegally and had “historic cooperation.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rubio: U.S. needs more countries to take in migrants
