Trump wants to send ‘homegrown criminals’ to El Salvador and is asking for more mega-prisons

During the recent visit of the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, to the White House, Donald Trump stated, in a discussion filmed by Bukele’s team and broadcasted live on X, that in addition to illegal immigrants, he was also considering sending American citizens, or as he put it, «homegrown criminals».

Donald Trump started by saying to the President of Salvador: «They love you, they love what you’re doing».

Trump then adds in a low voice: «Homegrown criminals are next».

Trump, apparently thinking that the existing mega-prisons in El Salvador are not large enough, then told Bukele that at least «five more places» should be built.

Bukele responded: «Yeah, we’ve got space», an answer that provoked laughter in the Oval Office. 

Donald Trump’s comments are raising serious concerns, as he is already at the center of a controversy for refusing to facilitate the repatriation of a man sent to one of his mega-prisons, despite a Supreme Court decision.

Deported by mistake and without legal procedure by his administration, which refers to his deportation as a simple «administrative error», Kilmar Abrego Garcia is now presented by the Trump administration as a dangerous member of the MS-13 gang, based on largely contested accusations and not verified by solid evidence.

Let’s recall that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29 years old, entered the United States illegally at the age of 16, fleeing gang violence in El Salvador, and has been living in the country since 2011. In 2019, an American court granted him a protection order allowing him to stay in the territory, and he has never been charged or convicted of any offense. The US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return.

At the time of his arrest by ICE, Kilmar Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland with his wife and their three children: their biological son, who has autism, as well as two children from his spouse’s previous relationship.

While the Trump administration is trying to portray him as a criminal by invoking a 2021 protection order, his wife claims that, even if no marriage is perfect, Kilmar has always been a ‘loving partner and father’, and that his expulsion is not justified at all.

The way the administration handled the Garcia case raises serious concerns about the respect for legal procedure for anyone who would be sent to these five mega-prisons, especially if they are designated as criminals according to Donald Trump’s vague criteria.

Especially since Trump regularly threatens his political opponents, as well as journalists and media who criticize him, stating that some should «go to prison» simply for being opposed to his government.

Donald Trump also frequently suggests that his political opponents or media outlets that are unfavorable to him are criminals. He regularly refers to Joe Biden as the “head of a criminal organization” and accuses January 6 committee members of having manipulated or suppressed evidence, stating: «What they did is criminal. They should go to jail.»

Attorney General Merrick Garland is, according to him, ‘corrupt’ and should ‘be held accountable’, while he claims that special counsel Jack Smith ‘should be arrested’. The judges involved in his trials, such as Judge Engoron, are also referred to as ‘corrupt’. On the media side, Trump calls CNN, MSNBC, or the New York Times ‘criminals’, going so far as to say that some journalists ‘should go to jail’ for refusing to reveal their sources. This systematic criminalization of any opposition or criticism raises deep concerns. Especially since Trump has now openly stated that he is studying the idea of sending American citizens to prison in El Salvador.