President Donald Trump pleaded ignorance on Wednesday when asked about reports his administration was looking to deport prisoners to Libya, in addition to El Salvador.
Last week, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reported on X, "The Trump admin has discussed with Libya and Rwanda the possibility of sending migrants who have criminal records to those two countries."
Wednesday, CNN's Natasha Bertrand posted, "The Trump admin is moving forward with plans to transport a group of undocumented immigrants to Libya on a US military plane, an admin official says. Flight trackers show that a US Air Force C-17 has filed a plan to fly on Wednesday from Kelly Field in San Antonio to Misrata Airport in Libya."
In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump responded, "Uh, I don't know. You'll have to ask Homeland Security, please," when asked about the report.
Attorney John Jackson posted to X, "Transparent attempt to evade U.S. court review in one of the most remote, disconnected, and hellish places on earth as far from America as humanly possible. That's what this is. They might as well be transporting them to Mars."
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Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick wrote, "Yet another in a long line of examples of Trump openly saying he has no idea what his government is doing. In this case, it's about a reported plan to send migrants to Libya, a country whose migrant detention facilities were described as a 'hellscape' by Amnesty Int'l."
In a second post, Reichlin-Melnick included a photo of a Lybian migrant detention facility.
"Don’t look away. This is what Libya’s migrant detention facilities look like," Reichlin-Melnick wrote. "This is what Trump is doing. Amnesty International called these places a' 'hellscape' where beatings are common and sexual violence are rampant. There are reports of human trafficking and even slavery."
In response, former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega posted, "He knows it's happening. He just says he doesn't know because he doesn't want to answer the question. It's his standard modus operandi."
Attorney George Conway wrote, "Oh yes by all means please throw more gasoline on the six-alarm fire that used to be our Constitution."