President Donald Trump expressed uncertainty regarding the entitlement of individuals in the U.S. to due process rights as outlined in the Constitution, amidst his administration’s strong efforts to deport undocumented immigrants and other non-citizens.
During a Friday interview scheduled to air on Sunday on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,’ Trump was asked if he concurred with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertion from last month that all individuals in the U.S. are indeed entitled to due process, which typically necessitates that the government provide notice and a hearing prior to implementing certain legal actions.
Trump responded, ‘I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,’ further stating that adhering to such a requirement would imply ‘we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials.’
Trump stated that his legal team will clearly adhere to the directives issued by the Supreme Court. On April 19, the Supreme Court temporarily prohibited the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants alleged to be gang members. The administration, invoking a seldom-used wartime statute, has requested the justices to either lift or limit their ruling. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer indicated in a Supreme Court filing that detainees are being informed in advance about their deportations and have had sufficient time to submit claims for judicial review.
Additionally, on April 10, the justices instructed the Trump administration to assist in the return of a Salvadoran man, acknowledged by the government to have been mistakenly deported to El Salvador. This individual, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is currently held in a detention facility in El Salvador. A federal judge overseeing the case has mandated that the Trump administration provide further details regarding the measures taken to ensure Abrego Garcia’s return.
In a separate NBC interview, Trump remarked that seeking a third presidential term is not something he is currently pursuing, stating, ‘To the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do that,’ despite occasionally suggesting a desire to run again. The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution specifies, in part: ‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.’
