May 4 (UPI) — President Donald Trump expressed his uncertainty in an interview when asked if immigrants have the constitutional right to due process.
Moderator Kristen Welker asked Trump in a sit-down interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” to respond to remarks from Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, who had affirmed last month that every person in the United States was entitled to due process.
“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump responded.
Welker pressed that Fifth Amendment grants anyone the right to due process in the United States, as well as enshrines protections against double jeopardy and self-incrimination.
“Then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials,” Trump responded. “We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth.”
Welker again pressed whether Trump, as president, would need to uphold the U.S. Constitution even when responding to the challenges of migration.
“I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said,” Trump said.
“What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.”
Trump’s comments refer to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legal resident of Maryland who was erroneously deported to El Salvador, where he is being held in prison by President Nayib Bukele.
The Trump administration has admitted in court that he was wrongfully detained and deported due to an administrative error, despite a 2019 court order prohibiting his removal for safety reasons.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had to arrange for Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States, but the administration has argued that it cannot since the Salvadoran prison where he is being held is outside the jurisdiction of the United States.
The Trump administration has also repeatedly alleged without evidence that Abrego Garcia is a member of the violent MS-13 street gang.
The U.S. Supreme Court later agreed with U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ ruling, which it said “properly requires the government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.”
In Sunday’s interview, Welker asked Trump if he would need to seek clarification from the Supreme Court about an issue with the word “facilitate” in Xinis’ order.
“We may do that. I was asking about that,” Trump said. “We may do that.”