“Violate U.S. law” – Can Americans be sentenced to a prison outside the country? President Donald Trump shares his verdict

On April 14, President Donald Trump declared his intention to deport certain violent criminals who are U.S. citizens to Salvadoran prisons. This action, according to specialists, would contravene U.S. law.

The president’s remarks were the most explicit indication yet that he is seriously contemplating the deportation of naturalised and U.S.-born citizens. This proposal has alarmed civil rights advocates and is considered unconstitutional by a significant number of legal scholars.

During Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s visit to the White House, Trump stated, “We must always adhere to the law, but we also have homegrown criminals who push people into subways and hit elderly women on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they are not looking. These individuals are absolute monsters.”

Trump then informed Bukele that “homegrown criminals are next” and encouraged him to construct additional prisons to accommodate the U.S. citizens he plans to deport. Bukele responded to Trump’s assertion by stating, “Yes, we have the space.”

Is it possible for the United States government to forcibly remove citizens from the country for any reason?
The short answer is no, although in uncommon instances, foreign-born citizens may be stripped of their citizenship and deported if they commit terrorism or treason, or if they are discovered to have lied about their background during the naturalisation process.

Erin Corcoran, an immigration law expert and professor at the University of Notre Dame, stated to Reuters that there is no provision in U.S. law that would permit the government to expel citizens from the country.

What is the reason for the concern? What was the cause of this?
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, had resided in Maryland with a permit to work in the United States since 2011. He was mistakenly deported in March after the U.S. government accused him of being a member of the MS-13 gang, which is classified as a terrorist organisation. The claim was not substantiated by any credible evidence, as per his attorneys.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, stated that Garcia’s U.S. immigration protection was terminated when Trump designated the El Salvador crime syndicate as a foreign terrorist organisation, as reported by Poynter. The nonprofit reported that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller reiterated the same rationale for the father’s deportation.

What are the objections to Trump’s proposal?
The Trump administration has already deported hundreds of migrants who are accused of criminal affiliations with MS-13 and other gangs to El Salvador’s mega-prison, the Terrorism Confinement Centre, where they are held under often-contested legal authorities. The United States is providing El Salvador with $6 million in compensation for the migrants’ detention.

Although the U.S. government is asserting that the individuals detained in the El Salvadorian penitentiary are violent gang members, the courts have not yet determined whether they are, in fact, what the Trump administration has classified them as. This includes Abrego Garcia.

David Bier, an immigration expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, stated to NBC News, “The U.S. government has already illegally deported an individual to this prison and has claimed no recourse to reclaim them. Consequently, the courts must intervene to prevent U.S. citizens from being unlawfully entangled in this unconstitutional train wreck.”