El Salvadorans confront US deportations and Bukele’s domestic crackdown

In the first quarter of 2025, U.S. immigration authorities returned 2,546 Salvadoran migrants, bringing the year’s total to 16,051 deportations. Experts note that while the U.S. Constitution protects property rights, deportees often struggle to manage homes, businesses and bank accounts from abroad, prompting recommendations such as power‑of‑attorney arrangements and living trusts.

At the same time, President Nayib Bukele’s government in El Salvador continues a wave of arbitrary detentions under an extended state of emergency. Hundreds of activists, lawyers and journalists have been imprisoned, including anti‑corruption attorney Ruth López, whose arrest marked a year of heightened repression. International bodies criticize the crackdown and a new mining law that overturns a historic ban, despite popular opposition.

Both developments highlight the legal and human‑rights challenges facing Salvadorans, whether abroad in the United States or within their own country.