April 17th 2025.
President Donald Trump is considering a new proposal that would allow for the deportation of convicted Americans to prisons in El Salvador. In a meeting with El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, Trump mentioned the idea, saying, "The homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You've got to build about five more places." This was followed by a press briefing on Monday where Trump alluded to the concept of incarcerating convicted U.S. citizens in prison spaces abroad. Bukele confirmed that El Salvador is prepared to carry out this plan, stating, "Yeah, we've got space."
The proposal has gained support from Trump's ally, Elon Musk, and other conservatives. However, legal scholars have expressed concerns about its constitutionality and legality. David Bier of the Cato Institute stated, "There's no authority in any U.S. law to deport U.S. citizens and certainly not to imprison them in a foreign country." He also pointed out that the Trump administration has already deported hundreds of people without giving the courts a chance to intervene.
In February, Senator Jon Ossoff wrote a letter to the U.S. State Department, urging them to reject the proposal. He stated, "It would be a moral and legal travesty for the U.S. government to subject anyone" to the living conditions in Salvadoran prisons. These prisons lack proper sanitation, temperature control, and clean water. Bukele's February post on X revealed that El Salvador has offered to take in convicted U.S. criminals into their Terrorism Confinement Center in exchange for a "relatively low" fee.
Trump has expressed his support for the proposal, saying, "I'd do it in a heartbeat." This comes as no surprise, considering the administration's track record of challenging legal and constitutional barriers. In the past, the United States imprisoned around 80,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. While the American Civil Liberties Union has stated that "you may not deport a U.S. citizen, period," a White House spokesperson indicated in an April 8 press briefing that Trump is fully considering the idea.
It's worth noting that El Salvador is already housing hundreds of people who were deported from the United States to its maximum-security prison due to their legal status and gang affiliations. This new proposal would only add to the already strained relationship between the two countries. As the debate over its legality and morality continues, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will proceed with this controversial plan.
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