During a recent off-the-cuff conversation with Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, Trump appeared to endorse the idea of sending homegrown U.S. prisoners to the Central American country.
"Homegrowns are next. The homegrowns, but you got to build about five more places. Yeah, you've got space,” Trump said.
During a subsequent news conference, the President said that related to homegrown criminals, "I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you'll have to be looking at the laws on that.”
Jonathan Lemire, of The Atlantic, shared the video that was taken of the two leaders speaking in the Oval Office before the full throng of media arrived.
Trump clarified his comments during the q-and-a with media.
“I don’t know what the laws are —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,” he added. “I’d like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you’ll have to be looking at the laws on that.”
The exchange with Bukele was the second known time Trump has verbalized thoughts of sending U.S. citizens to foreign jails.
The first reported time was last week when he caught the attention of Democrat National Committee chair Ken Martin.
In a press conference setting a reporter asked Trump if he was considering taking U.S. citizens from the federal prison population and sending them to be detained overseas.
“I love that … I would be honored to give them. I have suggested that,” Trump responded, according to Democrats.org. “I think if we could get El Salvador or somebody to take them I’d be very happy with it.”
“Corrupt wannabe dictator Donald Trump ‘love(s)’ the idea of illegally shipping Americans to foreign prisons. Let’s be clear about what Trump is saying: He’s willing to strip Americans of their constitutional rights and break U.S. law. Trump’s dangerous plans are a flagrant violation of our Constitution — and a horrifying sign of what could come if we don’t fight back,” Martin wrote.
Sending away U.S. citizens would “likely” be illegal, The Associated Press reports.
The potential uproar
Art Arthur is a law and policy fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies. He’s not so sure such a move would be illegal, but he’s pretty sure there would be stiff opposition.
"I believe that Congress and the Judicial Branch would probably push back on any attempt to incarcerate United States citizens in a foreign correctional facility. That said, there is nothing that I am aware of that would prevent the executive branch from incarcerating U.S. born criminals in a foreign facility."
Arthur says it would set a bad precedent.
"The indefinite incarceration of a U.S. citizen abroad would raise some significant and very real concerns. And for that reason, any attempts by the current administration to do this might set a bad precedent that could be used against U.S. citizens in the future."
AFR's Jenna Ellis, host of Jenna Ellis in the morning, notes that citizens who would likely be considered for deportation likely aren't natural born citizens.
Under certain circumstances that type of citizen can be naturalized. They're no longer citizens and are subject to deportation. Trump is specifically talking about naturalized individuals who have committed murder, thugs, gang members and the like, Ellis said.
"They're talking about people with dual citizenship or through the naturalization process," she told AFN. "Like many other things, Trump kind of says it vaguely then relies on his legal experts and other members of his comms team to clarify ... but he's not actually wrong."
