White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed the two reasons American citizens could be deported to a hellish El Salvadorian prison.
Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the idea of sending the worst of America’s criminals to the feared Terrorism Confinement Center, described as a ‘hell on earth’ and ‘black hole of human rights.’
During a press conference, Leavitt said the administration is still in the process of determining whether such a move would be legal.
‘It is an idea he has simply floated,’ she said.
She added that such a punishment would only be appropriate for offenders with ‘heinous and violent’ convictions as well as those who repeatedly commit crimes.
‘These would be heinous, violent criminals,’ she said. ‘These are violent repeat offenders.’
Trump said this week that he ‘loved’ an idea from El Salvador President Nayib Bukele who revealed in February he had extended an offer to the United States to ‘outsource part of its prison system.’
‘We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison… in exchange for a fee,’ he wrote in a post on X.
‘I love it,’ Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. ‘If he would take them, I’d be honored to give them.
‘I don’t know what the law says on that, but I can’t imagine the law would say anything different.
‘If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, I’m all for it.’
Sending American citizens to a foreign prison would be an extraordinary step taken by the administration.
Leavitt noted as much, assuring the public: ‘The president has said if there is a legal pathway. He’s not sure. We’re not sure if there is. It’s simply an idea that he has floated.’
Trump has already sent 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to the hellish prison, sparking a wave of legal disputes and liberal backlash.
He invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act – used just three times in history – to facilitate the deportation, and recently won the support of the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled Trump was within his rights to do so.
But elements of how the deportation was carried out sparked concerns. The ruling stated people slated for deportation are still ‘entitled to notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal’, which they did not receive.
There have also been disputes about the criminality of some of the deportees, with allegations the government’s basis for identifying them was flimsy at best.
Inside the jail, prisoners reportedly spend 23 and a half hours locked in overcrowded cells, with just 30 minutes to stretch – chained in the middle of the hallway.
It is equipped with a system that blocks inmates from contacting the outside world with cellphones.
To enter the jail, staffers, guards and prisoners have to go through a complex registration system before they travel through three sections safeguarded by gates.
Jail cells with steel bars are split among the eight cell blocks and can hold up to 100 detainees.
Each cell comes equipped with 80 bare iron bunks – mattresses are not included – along with two toilets and two sinks.
Every pavilion also has its own windowless cell where unruly prisoners are sent.
Prisoners are not entitled to visits and are never allowed outdoors, while temperatures inside the cells can soar to staggering heights with no other source of ventilation.
Dubbed a ‘black hole of human rights’ by critics, the facility has drawn widespread condemnation for allegedly ignoring international prisoner rights.
Following the Supreme Court hearing, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the Trump administration appeared to be laying the groundwork for a more expansive policy.
‘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.
‘History is no stranger to such lawless regimes, but this Nation’s system of laws is designed to prevent, not enable, their rise.’
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