El Salvador

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A family walks by a wall covered by a symbol from the Mara Salvatrucha, of MS-13 gang in Ilopango, El Salvador, on Aug. 21, 2014. In communities across El Salvador, the Mara Salvatrucha and their arch-rivals, the 18th Street Gang, are de facto rulers. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) **FILE**

MS-13’s smuggling operations in Mexico help gang members reach U.S.: DOJ

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

An Air Force helicopter flies over the Terrorism Confinement Center during a media tour in Tecoluca, El Salvador, late Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. The "mega-prison" still under construction has a maximum capacity of 40,000 and is intended to imprison gang members, according to the government. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Thousands of suspected gangsters moved into El Salvador’s ‘mega-prison’

By Matt Delaney - The Washington Times

United States interim head coach Anthony Hudson stands on the sideline before an international friendly soccer match against Serbia in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

U.S. men’s team to play El Salvador in Florida on March 24

Associated Press

FILE - A Mexican smuggler guides a Haitian family across the Morelos Dam over the Colorado River from Los Algodones, Mexico, on Feb. 4, 2022, to Yuma, Ariz., on the other side. Chris Magnus has many challenges to overcome in his new role as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In an interview with The Associated Press, Magnus acknowledged morale problems within the nation's largest law enforcement agency but offered no quick answers to the heavy migration flow to the U.S., which attracts more asylum seekers than any other country. (AP Photo/Elliot Spagat, File)

Hidden inflation on Biden’s watch: Prices in migrant smuggling economy soar to $2.6 billion

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Migrants gather their personal items as they wait to be processed by the Border Patrol after illegally crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the United States at Eagle Pass, Texas, Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. Venezuelans have surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border in August 2022 after Mexicans. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) **FILE**

$20 billion payday: Biden’s border surge sends smuggling prices soaring

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

Canada's Cyle Larin scores against the United States during the first half of a World Cup soccer qualifier in Hamilton, Ontario, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

U.S. stumbles to loss at first-place Canada in World Cup qualifying

By Ian Harrison - Associated Press

Migrants line up for a free meal at a makeshift camp of migrants at the border port of entry leading to the United States in in Tijuana, Mexico, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) **FILE**

Major study undercuts Biden explanation for surge in illegal immigration

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

New members of the New Ideas party are sworn in during the Legislative Assembly in San Salvador, El Salvador, Saturday, May 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

US expresses concern over El Salvador vote to remove judges

By MARCOS ALEMAN - Associated Press

Suecy Callejas, Vice President of the Congress, center, smiles during the first session in San Salvador, El Salvador, Saturday, May 1, 2021. For the first time in three decades the traditional conservative and leftist parties have been sidelined by a resounding electoral defeat, clearing the way for President Nayib Bukele's party to help him advance his agenda. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

El Salvador’s new assembly votes to oust high chamber judges

Associated Press

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2021 file photo, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele speaks before the start of vaccination of medical staff with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Atlacatl Medical Unit of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute in San Salvador, El Salvador. Bukele who became president by defeating both the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, and the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance, ARENA, party, was bounced from the FMLN in October 2017, accused of violating the party's principles. Now he has swept both parties again in congress by controlling 56 of the 84 seats. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)

AP Sources: El Salvador president snubs visiting Biden envoy

By JOSHUA GOODMAN - Associated Press

El Salvador's President-elect Nayib Bukele speaks to the press at Mexico's National Palace after meeting with the President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City, Tuesday, March 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador president, snubs visiting Biden envoy

By Joshua Goodman - Associated Press

Davidson Jair, 7, answers questions from a U.S. Border Patrol agent at an intake site after he was smuggled on an inflatable raft across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Davidson traveled from El Salvador in the hope of reaching relatives living in the U.S. The Biden administration says that it's working to address the increase in migrants coming to the border. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House efforts at the U.S. southern border and work with Central American nations to address root causes of the migration. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

US envoy talks migration with El Salvador, VP calls Mexico

Associated Press

Iris Franco, right, hugs her mother, Elsa Victorina Franco, at her home, in El Ranchador, Santa Ana, El Salvador, Friday, March 5, 2021. The Salvadoran family lives humbly but is in a better place thanks to financial support from a family member in the United States who is part of the Temporary Protected Status program. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Immigrants with temporary status have grown deep roots in US

By AMY TAXIN and JEFF ROBERSON and MARCOS ALEMÁN - Associated Press

Rosibel Emerita Arriaza, the mother of Victoria Esperanza Salazar who died in police custody, talks to the press in Antiguo Cuzcatlan, El Salvador, Monday, March 29, 2021. Mexican authorities said Monday that an autopsy of Arriaza's daughter confirmed that police broke her neck in the Caribbean resort of Tulum, Mexico. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Outrage grows over police custody death in Mexico

By MARÍA VERZA and MARCOS ALEMAN - Associated Press

Vice President Kamala Harris meets with President Joe Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden asks VP Harris to lead on border-surge negotiations

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times

A surfer rides a wind-whipped wave, Friday, March 12, 2021, at Old Orchard Beach, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) **FILE**

Olympic hopeful surfer dies from lightning strike on beach in El Salvador

By Andy Kostka - The Washington Times

Republican senator missed votes while in El Salvador

Associated Press

President Nayib Bukele holds his ballots as he prepares to vote in local and legislative elections, at a polling station in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. El Salvador went to the polls in legislative and mayoral elections that could break the congressional deadlock that has tied the hands of President Nayib Bukele. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

El Salvador awaits what president will do with new power

By MARCOS ALEMÁN - Associated Press

President Nayib Bukele holds his ballots as he prepares to vote in local and legislative elections, at a polling station in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. El Salvador went to the polls in legislative and mayoral elections that could break the congressional deadlock that has tied the hands of President Nayib Bukele. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Salvadoran president appears to win control of congress

By MARCOS ALEMÁN - Associated Press

People wait in line to cast their votes during local elections in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. Sunday's legislative and local elections in El Salvador are seen as a referendum on whether to break the congressional deadlock that has tied the hands of upstart populist President Nayib Bukele. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

El Salvador vote could strengthen president’s rule

By MARCOS ALEMÁN - Associated Press