Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, News, US News
Gerrard Kaonga
Donald Trump is no stranger to controversy, but people have admitted to being concerned about his potential plans for American citizens and foreign prisons.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump admitted that he was considering deporting US citizens to El Salvador’s infamous mega prison.
This comes after the US already deported as many as 261 alleged criminals to Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), the prison notorious for housing Venezuelan gang members and mass murderers.
CECOT is considered the largest prison in the Americas and can home up to 40,000 inmates.
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The mass deportations were given the go-ahead after the president brought back a rare 18th-century wartime legislation, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, allowing the US to deport migrants who have been accused of being in gangs or committing crimes without any court proceedings taking place.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday (April 8) that that this could also be the fate of the worst US-born criminals in and out of prison.
She bolstered Trump’s initial comments but added that he would only act if it was within the law.
Speaking to reporters, she said: “The president has discussed this idea quite a few times publicly he has also discussed it privately.
“You are referring to the president's idea for American citizens to potentially be deported, these would be heinous, violent criminals, who have broken our nations laws repeatedly.
“These are violent repeat offenders in American streets. The president has said if it is legal, if there is a legal pathway to do that, he is not sure, we are not sure if it is.
“It is an idea that he has simply floated and has discussed very publicly in the effort of transparency.”
Speaking to reporters Trump said he would ‘love’ the possibility of being able to send the most ‘horrible criminals’ to El Salvador for a ‘lot less money than it costs’ them to house.
He said: “We have some horrible criminals, American-grown and born, and if we have somebody that bops an old woman over the head, if we have somebody that is in jail 20 times and goes back and shoots people all over the place and then has a bad judge or a bad prosecutor that do nothing about them, all they worry about is politics, I think if we could get El Salvador or somebody to take them, I'd be very happy with it, but I have to see what the law says."
However, critics have argued this would violate international human rights laws.