Jonathan Blitzer: Trump Was Clear He Wants To Send Convicted Americans to El Salvador

EXCERPT:

BLITZER: "And the president, to be clear, is explicit on this point. He said that he would like to send convicted Americans to this prison in El Salvador. So this is not a hypothetical. But I also think it’s important to note that when people, when journalists, when lawyers have dug into the actual specifics of some of these cases, obviously, it’s impossible to dig into all of them because the government won’t share any information, but when people have dug into the specifics of these cases, it’s become clear that the people the United States government is saying are gangsters and are terrorists are, in fact, not. There is no evidence proving the government’s claim. And yet the government is hiding the ball and saying, 'Well, no, trust us, we have the information.' This is precisely why due process is so important. You right now have, you know, 250 Venezuelans who are languishing in a Salvadoran prison, who weren’t able to see the charges against them. When we have looked in a few cases at the charges, we see that they’re based basically on nothing, on things like gang — tattoos that are — you know, the suggestion is somehow that these tattoos suggest gang membership. We know for a fact that they don’t, circumstantial evidence that people can contest. And yet these people are being disconnected from their families, their lawyers. It’s impossible to communicate with them. The only reason we know these people are in a prison in El Salvador is because the news media has broken the names of these people. The United States government hasn't even shared that in federal court under judge's orders."