President Donald Trump, speaking at the House Republican Retreat in Doral, Florida, suggested Monday that he wanted to fly American criminals to other countries who will incarcerate them for “a small fee.”
“I don’t want these violent repeat offenders in our country anymore. If they’ve been arrested many, many times, I want them out of our country,” Trump said. Let them be brought to a foreign land and maintained by others for a very small fee as opposed to be maintained in our jails for massive amounts of money including the private prison companies that charge us a fortune. Let them be brought out of our country and let them live there for a while and see how they like it. You’ll see crime all over the country dry up.”
Newsweek has emailed the White House and Department of Justice Monday night for additional remarks.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the 2025 Republican Issues Conference at the Trump National Doral Miami on January 27, 2025, in Doral, Florida. The three-day planning session was expected to lay out Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda.
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Why It Matters
Trump’s remarks come amid a massive crackdown on illegal immigration, signing a slew of executive orders that have paved the way for mass deportations and the return of some of his first-term policies. The president has long said that he believes that migrants fuel violent crime in America.
Trump has also repeatedly said that countries such as Venezuela have “released tremendous amounts of criminals” into the U.S.
A New York Times/Ipsos poll carried out from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.” Both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the country’s immigration system was broken.
What To Know
In his remarks on Monday, while talking to lawmakers about his administration’s migrant deportation efforts, Trump acknowledged that the U.S. also has “many violent people” who “did not necessarily come here illegally, but have been arrested numerous times.”
The president called out Americans who have been detained for crimes such as “murder and other heinous acts like pushing people into subways,” striking individuals with baseball bats, or “punching elderly women in the face, knocking them unconscious, and stealing their purses.”
The United Kingdom employed the use of penal colonies or forced exile as a method of dealing with criminal offenders, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the primary destinations for transported convicts was Australia, specifically the penal colony established at Botany Bay in New South Wales, which began in 1788. The practice was a means to alleviate overcrowded prisons in Britain and to contribute to the development of new colonial territories.
The usage of penal colonies gradually declined and eventually ended due to various factors, including changes in legal and social attitudes toward punishment. The practice has never been used by the United States with its own criminals.
What People Are Saying
Trump continued on Monday: “I don’t want these violent repeat offenders in our country any more than I want illegal aliens from other countries who misbehave,” Trump said. “They’re repeat offenders by many numbers. I want them out of our country. I also will be seeking permission to do so.”
Conservative influencer Noah Christopher posted on X: “HOLY CRAP! President Trump wants to send repeat American criminals (the worst of the worst) to a different country! Penal colony!”
What Happens Next
For U.S. citizens who have committed crimes, the government must address their actions within the country’s legal and penal systems, such as through incarceration, probation or other legal remedies.
Deporting American convicts from the U.S. would require legislation to authorize the archaic practice.
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments,” as well as other legal protections, would likely prevent the deportation of American citizens as a form of punishment.
Update 1/27/25, 7:25 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update: 1/27/25, 6:34 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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