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President Donald Trump has said he is uncertain whether due process rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution apply to all individuals in the United States — a comment that comes amid his administration’s push for aggressive immigration enforcement, Reuters reported on Sunday.
In an interview aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, Trump was asked whether he agreed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who recently said that “of course” everyone in the U.S. is entitled to due process, regardless of their immigration status.
“I don’t know. I’m not, I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,” Trump said, according to Reuters, while adding that honouring such legal protections would mean “we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials,” in reference to deportation proceedings for immigrants and non-citizens.
Trump asserted that his legal team would abide by the nation’s highest court, reportedly saying, “My lawyers are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.”
His remarks come on the heels of a series of Supreme Court decisions involving his administration’s immigration actions. On April 19, the court temporarily blocked the deportation of a group of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang affiliations, while also instructing the administration to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported earlier this year.
Garcia remains in detention in El Salvador, and a federal judge has ordered more information from the government about efforts to bring him back.
In filings, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer maintained that deportees have been given “adequate time” to pursue legal challenges and that proper notice has been provided ahead of removals.
Trump also addressed the speculation around a potential third presidential term during the NBC interview. “It’s not something I’m looking to do,” he said, before adding, “It’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do.”
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