On Monday, President Donald Trump proposed that the United States pay a nominal fee to foreign countries to house repeat offenders in American prisons, thereby creating a sort of contemporary penal colony.
During his remarks at a gathering for House Republicans in Miami, the president marketed the notion as a cost-cutting tool.
Trump stated, “I want them out of our country if they have been arrested a lot and they are repeat offenders by a large number.” Hopefully, we will obtain permission to remove them from our nation, along with others, and allow them to be transported abroad to be cared for by others for a very nominal cost.”
Trump claimed that by doing this, the federal government would be able to avoid using private prisons, which he claimed cost Americans a fortune, and American jails “for massive amounts of money.”
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He framed the concept as distinct from current initiatives to deport illegally-residing migrants who are said to have criminal histories. Trump said he would have to have such a proposal “approved.”
Britain began shipping prisoners to the American colonies in the early 1700s, a practice that came to a halt when the American Revolution began. Australia was soon the destination of Britain’s hunt for a different area of forced exile.
The president’s reworking of the colonial-era criminal system coincides with his administration’s vigorous efforts to reduce the federal budget. Under the leadership of tech tycoon Elon Musk, his recently established Department of Government Efficiency has already claimed to have cut more than $560 million in government spending by eliminating contracts, programs, and releases.
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Trump’s remarks coincide with well-publicized initiatives to return illegally entering migrants.
The president has increased deportation efforts since taking office a week ago, and over the weekend, he threatened to impose crippling economic sanctions unless the Colombian government accepted flights carrying deportees.
Trump declared, “We have no regrets and we’re moving forward very quickly.” These are more violent than our criminals, I used to remark. The best thing about them is that they actually make our convicts appear very good.
The reason behind Trump’s attempt to temporarily banish American citizens from foreign prisons is unknown, but he said that violent criminals are sometimes allowed to commit crimes again despite having “been arrested 30 times, 35 times, 41, 42 times.”
According to him, there have been “heinous charges,” such shoving individuals into oncoming subway trains, using baseball bats to strike people in the head, or “punching old ladies in the face, knocking them unconscious and stealing their purse.”
Trump stated that he thought that if the United States sent criminals abroad to live for a period, crime would stop. He added that this was already being done by other countries.
“Let them be brought out of our country and let them live there for a while,” Trump stated. “Let s see how they like it.”