Trump Now Wants To Deport US Citizens And Jail Them In Foreign Prisons
The Trump administration is exploring a proposal to detain and deport US citizens to prisons in El Salvador, sparking an intense debate over its legality and constitutional implications.
During a conversation with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, US President Donald Trump mentioned the possibility of sending "homegrown criminals" to El Salvador's notorious CECOT mega-prison, citing the need for additional prison space. Trump said, "The homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You've got to build about five more places," emphasising that his administration would only pursue this idea if deemed legal.
"We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they're not looking, that are absolute monsters," Trump declared.
Trump's plan would target violent offenders, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stating that Trump "would only consider this, if legal, for Americans who are the most violent, egregious, repeat offenders of crime who nobody in this room wants living in their communities."
However, legal scholars argue that deporting US citizens would be unconstitutional and violate fundamental rights. Per NPR's report, David Bier of the Cato Institute, a think tank based in Washington DC, asserts that such actions would be "obviously unconstitutional, obviously illegal," highlighting the lack of authority in US law to deport citizens and imprison them in foreign countries.
El Salvador's President Bukele has expressed willingness to accommodate US citizens in his country's prisons, saying, "Yeah, we've got space." The Trump administration has already deported over 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador, sparking concerns about due process and judicial oversight. "The problem of course is [Trump] already has illegally deported hundreds of people by just not giving the courts an opportunity to stop him," Bier said. "I think that's the real fear, now that he is going to try to evade judicial review of deportations of U.S. citizens."
US Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested it could lead to a decrease in crime, stating that "crime is going to decrease dramatically." On the other hand, experts like Laurence Tribe, Harvard University professor emeritus of constitutional law, warn that Trump's plan would leave citizens vulnerable to being "kidnapped by masked agents of the United States government" and imprisoned without recourse.
"What that means is that literally any of us, whether we are from Venezuela or were born in the United States, whether we are immigrants or not, whether we are citizens or not, any of us is vulnerable to basically being kidnapped by masked agents of the United States government who don't tell us why they're picking us up, perhaps never to be seen again because we're located somewhere in a dungeon, a prison cell, rotting away, whether it's in El Salvador or anywhere else in the world," Tribe said, speaking to NPR.
The idea of outsourcing US prison operations to El Salvador is not new. In February, Bukele posted on social media about his country's offer to take in convicted US citizens, including those with violent offenses, in exchange for a fee. Trump's ally Elon Musk amplified Bukele's post, describing it as a "Great idea!!" Trump himself expressed willingness to consider the proposal, saying, "I'd do it in a heartbeat."
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