The Trump administration is eyeing sending U.S. citizens who have committed "heinous, violent" crimes despite lack of legality.
Maria Villaroel Maria Villarroel / Published Apr 11 2025, 4:22 PM EDT
The Trump administration recently deported a Maryland father to El Salvador's mega-prison, leading to the Supreme Court to order his return back to the U.S. But despite that case, which officials acknowledged as a mistake, the administration has embraced the initiative, removing Venezuelans accused of being gang members and with President Donald Trump saying he would also like the idea of deporting American citizens to the country's infamous prison system.
The president told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that "we have some horrible criminals, American grown, born," and that he's "all for" sending them to prisons in El Salvador— where some Venezuelan migrants are already being detained. "I don't know what the law says on that," he added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the comments Tuesday, telling reporters that, "to the president's idea for American citizens to potentially be deported, these would be heinous, violent criminals who have broken our nation's laws repeatedly," The Washington Post recalled.
But despite the administration's declaration, legal experts are sounding the alarm for potential grounds of abuse, arguing there is no legal pathway for this program to take shape. This is because a U.S. citizen cannot legally be deported or denied entry to the United States. Jean Reisz, an associate professor of law who co-directs the University of Southern California Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic, said Trump's suggestion "does not seem very realistic."
Last month, after attacks on Tesla dealerships and vehicles in protest of Trump's influential adviser Elon Musk,
Trump said on social media that he hoped offenders would "get 20 year jail sentences" that could be served "in the prisons of El Salvador."
More:
https://www.latintimes.com/trump-supported-sending-us-citizens-salvadoran-prisons-there-no-legal-pathway-do-so-experts-580526
(My bolding)
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