Trump has found in El Salvador a model for the repressive state he wants to build – and he’s just getting started | Jordana Timerman

El Salvador has now been under a “state of exception” – which suspends aspects of the constitution and grants the government extraordinary powers of detention – for three years. And like Bukele, Trump claims that the strategy is working. Cases involving the deportations to El Salvador could potentially spark a constitutional crisis, pitting the two branches of government against each other. El Salvador is not just an ally – it’s a penal colony, a back-office subcontractor. The case of Kilmar Ábrego García illustrates the human cost of the emerging Bukele-Trump method.