Consider This from NPR Can the U.S. banish its citizens?
Apr 16, 2025
11:38
The Trump administration's move to send immigrants to a maximum security prison in El Salvador is the subject of multiple on-going fights in court.
But in an Oval Office meeting with the Salvadoran president this week, President Trump was already looking ahead.
"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. I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country," Trump said.
Trump later clarified that by "homegrown criminals" he meant U.S. citizens.
No president has tried to do exactly what Trump is proposing.
In this episode, we hear from someone who argues it's wildly unconstitutional.
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But in an Oval Office meeting with the Salvadoran president this week, President Trump was already looking ahead.
"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. I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country," Trump said.
Trump later clarified that by "homegrown criminals" he meant U.S. citizens.
No president has tried to do exactly what Trump is proposing.
In this episode, we hear from someone who argues it's wildly unconstitutional.
For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NPR Privacy Policy