Trump’s controversial plan to deport U.S. citizens sparks legal outcry

Washington — Former President Donald Trump has ignited a wave of legal and constitutional backlash following comments suggesting that U.S. citizens convicted of certain crimes should be deported to foreign prisons.

Speaking at a White House meeting alongside El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Trump floated the idea of deporting “homegrown” criminals, citing violent offenders as justification for the proposal. “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, that are absolute monsters,” Trump told reporters. “I’d like to include them.”

While details remain vague, the proposal has raised serious legal and constitutional concerns. Critics argue it poses a direct threat to the fundamental rights of American citizenship.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that Trump was exploring the legal possibility of deporting “heinous, violent criminals” who are U.S. citizens, though it remains unclear whether this would target naturalized citizens or citizens by birth. In rare instances, naturalized citizens may lose their citizenship if it was obtained fraudulently, but such cases are legally complex and exceptional.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is reportedly reviewing the legality of the idea, but so far, neither the White House nor the Justice Department has provided additional clarification.

Legal scholars and immigration experts were quick to condemn the suggestion. “It is pretty obviously illegal and unconstitutional,” said Ilya Somin, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. U.S. immigration law, he emphasized, applies to noncitizens—not citizens.

Emma Winger, a lawyer with the American Immigration Council, echoed the sentiment, stating that U.S. citizens cannot be subjected to deportation under current immigration law. Anthony Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, referenced historical context, noting that the British practice of exiling colonial criminals was one of the grievances that fueled the American Revolution.

“I can’t see how exiling someone is permissible as part of the bundle of rights that are fundamental to citizenship—doubly so if the effort to house American citizens overseas means turning a person over to a foreign authority,” Kreis said.

David Bier, an immigration policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, warned that Trump’s comments highlight the urgency for courts to step in. “U.S. citizens may not be deported to imprisonment abroad. There is no authority for that in any U.S. law,” he said.

The controversy follows previous incidents involving deportation without due process. The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a noncitizen mistakenly deported to El Salvador, has been cited as a troubling precedent. Although he was never charged or convicted of any crimes in the U.S. or El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was deported before courts could intervene. While a judge has ordered his return, the Trump administration has claimed that the U.S. no longer has jurisdiction and that only El Salvador can decide his fate.

President Bukele has since stated he will not allow Abrego Garcia to return, further complicating the matter.

The Supreme Court weighed in on the case, stating that while the U.S. government is obligated to “facilitate” his return, courts cannot overrule presidential authority in foreign policy matters. If such reasoning is extended to U.S. citizens, legal experts warn it could open the door to unprecedented abuses of power.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a separate opinion, warned of the potential dangers of the administration’s arguments. “The implication of the government’s position is that 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 if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal,” she wrote.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem added fuel to the fire last week, stating at an event in Phoenix that Bukele assured her prisoners sent to El Salvador “will never leave.”

As the debate continues, constitutional scholars insist that the judiciary must intervene swiftly to prevent U.S. citizens from being subjected to extrajudicial imprisonment abroad.

“This is an unconstitutional train wreck waiting to happen,” Bier said. “The courts must act before more lives are unlawfully upended.”

With the 2024 presidential race gaining momentum, Trump’s proposal has once again placed immigration and citizenship rights at the heart of the national debate—raising the stakes not just for noncitizens, but for American citizens as well.