President Donald Trump said Monday that he was making a serious effort to move forward with a plan that would involve sending repeat criminal offenders in the United States to other countries for “a small fee.”
“I don’t want these violent repeat offenders in our country any more than I want illegal aliens from other countries that misbehave,” Trump told House Republicans at their annual retreat, which the president hosted at his golf club, Trump National Doral, just outside Miami.
The president indicated that he was making a serious effort to bring the plan to life, adding, “I also will be seeking permission to do so. We’re going to get approval, hopefully, to get them the hell out of our country along with others — let them be brought to a foreign land and maintained by others for a very small fee.”
He did not elaborate on whether he meant he was seeking permission from legal authorities or from some other entities.
Trump suggested that the fee would substitute “for massive amounts of money” required for the American justice system to house offenders, adding, “Let them be brought out of the country … for a while. Let’s see how they like it. You’ll see crime all over the country dry up.”
The president also made a lighthearted reference to flights that began last week transporting illegal aliens from the United States back to their home countries, likening it to the 1997 movie Con Air.
“Three hundred people sitting in a plane — every one of them either a murderer, a drug lord, a kingpin of some kind, the head of the mob, or a gang member,” Trump said. “You ever see the movie Con Air? Except here’s the difference. The people in Con Air were actors, they weren’t nearly as tough as these guys.”
You can watch the video of Trump’s remarks above.
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