The Trump administration is considering deporting a new class of people, and their identity might surprise you: American citizens.

In a White House appearance with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Monday, President Trump mused about sending Americans to El Salvador’s prisons.

“If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem, no,” Trump said. “I’m talking about violent people. I’m talking about really bad people.” The president encouraged Bukele to build more prisons for the people he described as “homegrowns.”

"These would be heinous, violent criminals who have broken our nation's laws repeatedly,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained at a recent press briefing, saying that the administration was “not sure” if it was legal.

The president said he loves the idea of sending U.S. citizens to El Salvador. “I would only do according to the law,” Trump said. “But I have suggested that, you know, ‘Why should it stop just at people who cross the border illegally?’ We have some horrible criminals, American-grown and born.”

To be clear, there is no legal pathway for any president to deport native-born U.S. citizens. Sending Americans to El Salvador would be illegal under existing U.S. and........

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