Is it legal for Trump to send U.S. citizens to jails in El Salvador?
The President of El Salvador has agreed to an extraordinary migratory agreement for criminals in custody and detention in the U.S.
“He’s also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentence in the United States even though they’re U.S. citizens or legal residents,” Rubio said. He had just met with Bukele at his lakeside country house outside San Salvador for several hours.
The President of El Salvador has agreed to the most extraordinary, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world, according to the speaker at the signing ceremony.
The U.S. official said that there were no plans to deport American citizens and that the offer by Bukele was significant. The U.S. government cannot deport American citizens and such a move would be met with significant legal challenges.
Rubio was visiting El Salvador to press a friendly government to do more to meet Trump administration demands for a major crackdown on immigration amid turmoil in Washington over the status of the government’s main foreign development agency.
The issue of migration is the focus of the day and will be for the next stop on the Central American tour by Sen. Marco Rubio.
President Donald Trump’s administration works with other countries to increase immigration enforcement on their borders as well as to accept deportees from the United States.
Officials have suggested this might be an option for Venezuelan gang members convicted of crimes in the United States should Venezuela refuse to accept them, but Rubio said Bukele’s offer was for detainees of any nationality.
Activists have warned that El Salvador lacks a consistent policy for the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees and that such an agreement might not be limited to violent criminals.
Rubio: A U.S. Secretary of State Visits El Salvador, a Tool for Countering the Farabundo Mart National Liberation Front
The secretary general of the Farabundo Mart National Liberation Front criticized the safe third country plan, saying it would signal Washington’s desire to dump the garbage in the region.
The deportation flight Rubio watched being loaded in Panama City was carrying migrants detained by Panamanian authorities after illegally crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia. The State Department says such deportations send a message of deterrence. Since 2005, the U.S. has provided Panama with over two million dollars in flights and tickets, mostly in the form of financial assistance.
Rubio was on the tarmac for the departure of the flight, which was taking 32 men and 11 women back to Colombia. It’s unusual for a secretary of state to personally witness such a law enforcement operation, especially in front of cameras.
“Mass migration is one of the greatest tragedies in the modern era,” he said. “It impacts countries throughout the world. Many people seeking mass migration are often victims of crime along the way; it’s not good for anyone.
His trip comes at a time when a freeze in U.S. foreign assistance and stop-work orders are in effect in Central American countries. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting, but details of those were not immediately available.
The staffers of the US Agency for International Development were told Monday to stay out of their Washington headquarters after billionaire Elon Musk announced Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.
Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs shut down. He told reporters he would not be running day to day operations because he had delegated that authority.
The change means that USAID is no longer an independent government agency as it had been for decades — although its new status will likely be challenged in court — and will be run out of the State Department by department officials.
Source: Rubio says El Salvador will house deportees from U.S., including Americans
Trump’s “candidate” request for the removal of a dangerous criminal enclave from the United States is unconstitutional
On his weekend visit to Panama, he said he was hopeful that the Panamanians would listen to him and Trump’s warnings on China. The US turned over control of the canal to Panama in 1999 and the Panamanians bristled at Donald Trump’s insistence on taking it back.
“We either want it back, or we’re going to get something very strong, or we’re going to take it back,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “China will be dealt with.”
The U.S. is “just profoundly grateful,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, for El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s offer to incarcerate criminals being held in American prisons — including U.S. citizens and legal residents — in his country’s jails.
The offer is a chance to get some of the most dangerous and violent criminals in the US off the streets at a fraction of the cost.
President Trump said on Tuesday he would welcome it if it were legal, but it is not yet clear how serious the idea would be.
If I had the legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat, according to President Trump. I’m not sure if we do or not, we’re looking at that right now. Experts agree that it is unconstitutional.
“That’s an offer President Bukele made,” Rubio said. “Obviously we’ll have to study it on our end. Legal matters are involved. We have a constitution and quite a few other things.
Immigrants in Non-Citizen Countries: Where do they come from? Where are they? How many have they been asked to name?
The deputy director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project told NPR that a U.S. citizen may not be deported. “The courts can’t allow that, they wouldn’t allow it.”
As for the idea of the U.S. deporting non-citizens to a country they’re not from, Gelernt said it’s possible, but complicated, under arrangements such as a safe third country agreement.
“Congress has put in very careful safeguards for when a non-citizen can be sent back to a country other than their own,” he said. “There has to be an agreement with this third country, and there has to be a clear sense that the person is not going to be in danger in that country, and they have to be able to challenge being sent to another country.”
Many other countries have inquired about taking their criminals, Trump said. He named many of the countries that were asked to name them. Many.”
