Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump sparked a wave of legal and human rights concerns on Monday after suggesting that U.S. citizens convicted of violent crimes could be deported to El Salvador and imprisoned in the country’s infamous CECOT mega-prison, a facility widely condemned for alleged human rights abuses.
During a White House meeting with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Trump praised the Central American leader’s hardline approach to criminal justice and floated the possibility of expanding deportations to include U.S. citizens convicted of violent offenses. The remarks immediately drew sharp rebukes from constitutional law scholars and immigration advocates, who warned the plan would violate basic legal protections and fundamental principles of citizenship.
“We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they’re not looking — absolute monsters,” Trump told reporters. “I’d like to include them.”
The proposal comes amid growing scrutiny of the administration’s controversial practice of deporting individuals — including some U.S. residents — to El Salvador under a security partnership with Bukele’s government. Trump confirmed on Monday that he had asked Bukele to construct “about five more” such prisons, declaring, “Home-growns are next.”
Bukele, who has faced international condemnation for presiding over mass detentions and alleged torture at the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), welcomed Trump’s overture, while simultaneously refusing to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a U.S. resident who was wrongly deported to El Salvador and detained at CECOT under Trump’s orders.
Garcia was never charged with a crime in the U.S. or El Salvador, and the Department of Justice has admitted he was sent to the prison due to an “administrative error.” A federal judge has ordered the government to bring Garcia back, but the administration argues it has no obligation to facilitate his return, citing the president’s foreign policy prerogatives.
Legal Experts: “Unconstitutional and Un-American”
Legal scholars warn that Trump’s suggestion to deport U.S. citizens — even those convicted of violent crimes — sets a dangerous precedent and likely violates constitutional protections.
“It is pretty obviously illegal and unconstitutional,” said Ilya Somin, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. “There is no authority in U.S. law that allows the government to deport its own citizens, much less into foreign imprisonment without due process.”
Emma Winger, an attorney with the American Immigration Council, stressed that deportation statutes under immigration law explicitly apply only to non-citizens. “U.S. citizens have full constitutional rights — they cannot be banished or exiled under any legal framework.”
Anthony Kreis, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University, said the idea echoed some of the most egregious abuses cited during the American Revolution. “Exiling a U.S. citizen and turning them over to a foreign government’s prison system fundamentally contradicts the rights inherent to citizenship,” he said.
Supreme Court Warning Echoes Concerns
The Supreme Court recently weighed in on the broader issue in a case concerning wartime deportation powers. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a concurring opinion, warned that under the administration’s theory, “not only noncitizens but also United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress.”
Her words now appear prophetic.
David Bier, an immigration policy expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, said the implications of Trump’s plan are “profoundly troubling.”
“The U.S. government has already deported someone to this prison illegally and claimed no recourse to get them back,” Bier said. “The courts must shut down this unconstitutional train wreck before U.S. citizens are unlawfully caught up in it.”
No Clarification from DOJ
Asked whether the proposal might target naturalized citizens — who can, under limited and rare circumstances, be denaturalized for fraud — the White House did not clarify. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said only that Trump is interested in deporting “heinous, violent criminals” if there is “a legal pathway to do so.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi is reportedly “studying the law,” according to Trump.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed last week that Bukele assured her individuals sent to CECOT “will never leave,” underscoring the severity of the plan’s implications for human rights and judicial oversight.
A Test for the Courts — and the Constitution
Trump’s remarks raise profound questions about the limits of executive power, the durability of due process, and whether citizenship still guarantees constitutional protection against arbitrary state action.
For now, advocates are calling on the courts to immediately block any further attempts to deport U.S. residents — or citizens — to foreign detention centers without due process.
“The government cannot operate outside the law,” said Bier. “Even when it says it’s fighting monsters, it can’t become one itself.”
