President Donald Trump on Sunday staunchly defended the criticized policies he has implemented in his second term in the White House, including the mass deportations of immigrants without legal status, without complying with the due process of law as established by the Constitution of the United States.

RELATED:

Venezuelans Kidnapped in El Salvador: 87% Without Criminal Records

In an interview with ‘Meet the Press’ on NBC, conducted at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump distanced himself from criticisms of violations of detainees’ rights, stating that he is not involved “in the legality or illegality” because the matter is in the hands of the Department of Justice.

“I have lawyers who take care of that and that’s why I have an excellent Department of Justice,” he said, and recalled that he is not a lawyer when questioned with the affirmation of his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who recently indicated in that same program that every person in this country has the right to due process.

The president replied that adhering to this would imply that they would have to carry out a large number of trials that would delay the deportations, which was one of his main campaign promises.

“We would have to have a million, two million, or three million trials. We have thousands of people, some murderers, others drug traffickers, and some of the worst and most dangerous people in the world on Earth, and I was elected to get them out of here, and the courts are preventing me from doing so,” Trump reiterated, who has justified these deportations by claiming that these immigrants have criminal records, but many have rejected this.

Fast-track deportations have led many immigrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, including citizen Kilmar Ábrego García, whom a court ordered to be returned to the U.S., which has not yet happened.

Trump was asked if, as president, he should respect the U.S. Constitution, to which the president replied with “I don’t know” and again referred the issue to his Department of Justice, at the head of which he appointed Pam Bondi.

“I don’t know, I must answer by saying, I repeat, that I have brilliant lawyers working for me and that they are obviously going to follow what the Supreme Court dictates,” insisted the Republican leader, who has based his fast-track deportations on invoking the old Alien Enemies Act to expel from the country alleged Venezuelan gang members from the Tren de Aragua criminal gang and other immigrants claiming they have committed crimes.

On this immigration issue, he also indicated that he will not invalidate the emergency he decreed on the country’s southern border shortly after taking office on January 20, although he insisted that the emergency now is to expel undocumented immigrants.

The president defends his border policy by arguing a massive emergency and denies plans to revoke the decree that supports it, despite criticism from some judges. He also supports his tariff policy, describing it as a transition process that will eventually strengthen the economy. Faced with the possibility of a short-term recession, he assures that the country will be fine and advises Americans to be more austere in their spending.

IN THIS ARTICLE