President of El Salvador, Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The number of people deported to El Salvador from the U.S. nearly doubled in the first months of 2026, according to official figures, coming as Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has positioned himself as an ally willing to help the Trump administration accelerate deportations, a central priority.
The U.S. deported 5,033 Salvadorans back to their country in the first three months of 2026 compared with 2,547 deportees in the same period in 2025, according to El Salvador migration authority figures obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
That marks nearly a 98% increase at the same time that the Trump administration has boosted deportation flights across the world. Globally, deportation flights from the U.S. jumped around 61% between 2024 and 2025, according to data compiled by the Asociación Agenda Migrante El Salvador, or AAMES, and other organizations.
The U.S. has stopped regularly releasing deportation data, so experts instead are relying on other information from countries like El Salvador, deportation flights and other numbers.
