In a recent television interview, US President Donald Trump said he wasn’t sure if he needed to support the US Constitution.
Last week, Trump answered a question on NBC News about whether undocumented immigrants in the US are entitled to a legitimate process.
“They talk about a legitimate process, but when you’re here illegally, do you get a legitimate process?”
“The Constitution says that everyone, citizens and non-citizens deserve legitimate procedures,” Welker replied.
She then asked Trump if he agreed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said that non-citizens are entitled to legitimate procedures.
Trump: “I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know.”
Welker: “Well, I’ll say the fifth revision as well.”
Trump: “I don’t know. It might say that, but if you’re talking about it, we have to do a million, two million or three million exams.”
Welker: “But given the numbers you’re talking about, why don’t you have to maintain the US constitution as president?”
Trump: “I don’t know. I have to respond again by saying that I have great lawyers who work for me. They are clearly going to follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard.
That wasn’t the first time Trump has sidelined immigrants’ due-process rights.
In an interview with ABC News that marks Trump’s first 100 days inauguration, correspondent Terry Moran asked Trump.
“There’s another standard when people come to our country illegally,” Trump replied.
In a May 1 speech at the University of Alabama launch ceremony, Trump said:
A few days later, when he announced that the 2027 NFL (National Football League) Draft would be held in Washington, D.C., Trump said, “The courts suddenly, out of nowhere, say they need to go to trial. They have to go to trial. There are five million trials.
Despite Trump’s rejection and questions about the legitimate process of immigration, the US Constitution, legal experts and decades of court decisions agree. Immigrants have the right to a legitimate process, regardless of whether they have entered the United States legally or illegally.
What those rights look like depends on the time a person was in the United States and what their legal status is.
What are due process rights?
A proper process generally refers to the government’s requirements to follow fair procedures and laws. The fifth and 14th amendments to the Constitution “protect “anyone” so that “life, liberty, or property” is not taken away by the US government without a legitimate process of the law.
“People have a right to listen and there are certain measures that they need to take before someone gets jailed,” said Kathleen Bush Joseph, a lawyer and policy analyst at the non-political Institute for Immigration Policy.
Several court decisions have determined that legally extend the rights to due process to all Americans, not just American citizens and immigrants. The US Constitution and Immigration and Nationality Act provide for the processes that governments must use to grant appropriate process rights for immigration.
In immigration, due process generally refers to “some sort of screening interview that gives you the opportunity to get an appropriate notice of government actions, a hearing or some sort of screening interview. In fact, you are someone who falls under the law that you can be deported,” says Katherine Yong Ebright, attorney for the Brennan Judicial Freedom and Security Program.
For example, if the government is trying to deport undocumented people, the government must give them a request document commonly known as “notices to emerge.” Ultimately, the immigrant goes to the immigration judge, presents evidence and asserts that he is entitled to some form of relief for deportation, such as exile.
Without a legitimate process, legal experts say that U.S. citizens could also be deported.
“The overall point of the legitimate process is to determine if you’re like the person you’re deported,” said Ilya Somin, professor of constitutional law at George Mason University. “If there is no legitimate procedure, the government can simply banish people or punish them with will… because if you are not legitimate procedure, you can actually show that you are actually a US citizen.”
How are noncitizens’ rights to legitimate processes differently compared to US citizens?
While all people in the United States have legitimate process rights, for non-citizens, the details and scope of protection of the process differ. The term non-citizen applies to people with legal documents and those without documents, including those here on Visa.
“There are “various protection slide scales that people can have depending on the status of the immigrant,” Yong Ebright said.
Non-citizens are not entitled to government-designated lawyers during immigration lawsuits, for example. And some migrants who recently entered the United States without legal documents do not have to appear before a judge before being deported. These cases are subject to what is called a rapid removal process.
Under rapid removal, certain people could be deported immediately without trial. However, when returning to their homeland, those expressing fear of persecution will be referred to immigration officials who will determine whether the migrants are eligible for asylum or other deportation protections. Immigrants who pass the “reliable fear” screening will be referred to an immigration court where they can present their case.
In the past, people were placed in rapid removal if they were 100 miles from the border and within two weeks of entry. In January, Trump expanded his quick removal for those who could not prove he was in the US for more than two years.
The wartime forces of alien laws that Trump called for in March allow the government to deport “alien enemies.” He used the law to deport people without an immigration court hearing, where his administration was a member of Venezuelan prison gangster Tren de Aragua. The Trump administration has deported hundreds of people under the law.
However, the US Supreme Court ruled against the administration on April 7, notifying immigrants that they will be deported under the alien enemy laws and said they must give them “reasonable time” to challenge their deportation in court.
Rapid removal and alien enemies limit people’s due process protection, but they don’t eliminate them. “There are no exceptions to the legitimate process,” Bush Joseph said.
Additionally, non-citizens charged with the crime have the same due process protections as US citizens in criminal courts, Somin said.
“All protections in the Bill of Rights apply (in the Criminal Court),” Somin said. “There must be evidence beyond reasonable doubt. He or she has the right to trial, right to self-disability, and advice.”
Why is immigrant due process rights making headlines now?
The Trump administration faces several lawsuits dealing with deportation and immigration due process rights. They include Trump’s challenge to alien enemy laws and the false deportation of government Salvadorans.
Executives have criticised judges and refused to protect due-processes for immigrants.
“The due process guarantees the rights of criminal defendants facing prosecution. No illegal aliens are facing deportation,” White House adviser Stephen Miller posted on X on May 5th.
The Trump administration’s comments on the due process focus on his promise to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history. The administration’s current deportation pace is below the target of one million people each year, the Institute for Immigration Policy said in an April 24 analysis.
Naina Gupta, policy director for the American Council on Immigration, an immigration rights advocacy group, said the Trump administration “will “avoid those obstacles and requirements just to meet the number of targets.”
To achieve Trump’s goal of deporting one million people each year, the administration must deport those who have lived in the United States for years and have not been criminally convicted (past administrations have not prioritized deportation).
Past presidents have also been required to maintain the rights of non-citizens’ due process, but under an administration focused on those who have recently crossed the border, the deportation process has moved faster, Bush Joseph said. The Trump administration is more restrictive for the Trump administration.
Trump is right to deport millions of people living in the United States without legal documents and demand lawsuits for millions, said Tara Watson, director of the Brookings Agency’s Center for Economic Security and Opportunity. That has been the case for a long time.
Millions of immigration court cases are repeated. And the Trump administration fired several immigrant judges who had heard of these cases.
The administration’s goals on large-scale deportation do not change the rules and standards of appropriate processes.
“It’s true that due process slows down the deportation machinery, but due process also separates democracy and dictatorship,” Watson said.
Our arbitration
“If people come to our country without documents, there’s another standard (for a legitimate process).” Trump said.
All Americans, regardless of their status of immigration, have legitimate process rights based on the US Constitution and decades of court decisions. It applies whether they legally entered the United States or without documents.
For non-citizens, people’s due process protection depends on their legal status or duration in the United States. Legal experts say that despite legitimate process fluctuations, there are no exceptions to the appropriate process requirements for immigration.
We rate Trump’s statement as false.