As he continues to push the boundaries of basic US liberties, the 78-year-old Republican reaffirmed his support for transferring US citizens to El Salvador as well.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump increased his wild threats to transfer Americans to foreign prisons, declaring that he would love to send violent “homegrown” US people to an infamous mega-prison in El Salvador.
In discussions with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, the self-described “world’s coolest dictator” who has already detained illegal immigrants from the United States, Trump brought up the notion on Monday.
However, as he continues to push the boundaries of basic American rights, the 78-year-old Republican reaffirmed his support for sending US citizens to El Salvador as well.
Trump reportedly stated, “I call them homegrown criminals,” in an interview with Fox Noticias, a Spanish-language program that will air later Tuesday.
“The ones that grew up and something went wrong and they hit people over the head with a baseball bat and push people into subways,” he added.
We want to do it and are investigating it. I’d be thrilled to do it.
Trump said he had requested Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into the prospect of sending Americans to El Salvador at his discussion with Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday.
Shortly after Trump was sworn in for a second term, the iron-fisted Bukele made the unprecedented offer to accept inmates from the United States in exchange for a $6 million fee.
More than 250 migrants have already been transferred there by Trump, primarily in violation of a centuries-old wartime provision that denies them due process, but he has now begun to discuss sending US residents.
The instance of a migrant who was unintentionally sent to El Salvador from the United States as part of the Bukele arrangement is already putting pressure on Trump’s administration.
The “preposterous” notion of sending the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father residing in the US state of Maryland, back to the US was rejected by Bukele on Monday.
The Trump administration has been ordered by the US Supreme Court to make arrangements for his release from the infamous jail after the White House claimed that his deportation was the result of a “administrative error.”
Although he has never been found guilty, Trump officials maintain that he is an illegal immigrant and a member of El Salvador’s infamous MS-13 gang.
