Rep. Tom Emmer refuses to rule out deporting U.S. citizens

On Sunday, U.S. House Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District repeatedly dodged straightforward questions about whether the U.S. president has the legal power to “deport” U.S. citizens, or whether he would be supportive of such a move.

The question has arisen recently, as President Donald Trump suggested his administration could “deport” U.S. citizens. 

“The homegrowns are next,” Trump said last week during a meeting with El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele. 

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Emmer, who is also the House GOP whip, about the issue during his appearance the network’s State of the Union talk show.

“Do you think the federal government has any legal authority to [deport] American citizens?” 

Emmer declined to answer the question, instead offering a lengthy response about the administration’s ongoing enforcement actions against non-citizens.

Bash tried several times to steer Emmer back to the question of U.S. citizens. “What about the idea that the White House says it is looking into, whether or not U.S. citizens who are convicted of violent crimes can be imprisoned in El Salvador?” she asked. Emmer once again dodged and attempted to steer the discussion back toward the treatment of non-citizens.

Bash gave it one more try: “I just want to give you one more chance to say whether or not you’re okay with U.S. citizens — the idea of it. I know it’s not happening. But he has actively said more than once that they are looking into it. Would you be okay with that?”

Emmer, for a third time, refused to answer.

To be perfectly clear: The Constitution does not grant the president the power to “deport” U.S. citizens or imprison them in foreign countries.

“It is pretty obviously illegal and unconstitutional,” said Ilya Somin, a professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.

“It’s obviously unconstitutional, obviously illegal,” said David Bier of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in D.C.

“The U.S. government cannot deport a U.S. citizen for any reason,” said U.C. Davis law professor Gabriel Chin.

The episode represents a remarkable about-face on civil liberties for Emmer, a man who used to commemorate Constitution Day on social media, and who once took to the floor of the U.S. House to read the portions of the 6th Amendment that protect the rights of the criminally accused. 

Not long ago, Emmer publicly argued that efforts to protect Americans’ safety needed to be balanced against Constitutional safeguards of individual liberties. “We must protect this country, but cannot do so by circumventing the Constitution,” he said in a July 2016 explanation for why he voted against renewing the Patriot Act.

Four months later, Trump was first elected president of the United States.