Photo: Getty Images
President Donald Trump floated the idea of sending "homegrown criminals" to El Salvador, urging President Nayib Bukele to build more prisons to house them.
On Monday (April 14), Trump proposed the idea to Bukele in the Oval Office prior to reporters entering the room for a bilateral meeting, per USA Today. Trump and Bukele's conversation was captured in a live-streamed video shared on an X account for the El Salvadoran president.
"Homegrown criminals are next," Trump said to Bukele. "I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You've gotta build about five more places."
"Yeah, we've got space," Bukele said, to which Trump responded, "It's not big enough."
Thus far, Trump has sent alleged criminal non-U.S. citizens for imprisonment in El Salvador, where Bukele opened up CECOT, the country's notoriously brutal Terrorism Confinement Center. CECOT is currently holding over 270 men the Trump administration alleged were members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father and sheet metal worker, was among the men detained in El Salvador after being accused of being in MS-13. A federal court ruled that Garcia was wrongfully deported, but Bukele said Monday he has no plans to release or return the father.
According to experts, incarcerating U.S. citizens in another country would be unconstitutional. Still, Trump doubled down on the idea of sending "homegrown criminals" to El Salvador in front of reporters on Monday.
"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 said.
"I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you'll have to be looking at the laws on that, Steve," he added.
Trump also noted that Attorney General Pam Bondi is studying the legality of sending U.S. citizens who are criminals to El Salvador.
"If it's a homegrown criminal, I have no problem," Trump said. "We're studying the laws right now. Pam is studying if we can do that. And I'm talking about violent people. I'm talking about really bad people."
"Mr. President, you have 350 million people to liberate," Bukele said, noting he's "eager" to help the Trump administration with their agenda. "But to liberate 350 million people, you have to imprison some."
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