Due Process? "I Don't Know," Says Trump, Offers $1K for "Self-Deportation"

Just when you thought the administration's approach to immigration and the rule of law couldn't get any more alarming, President Donald Trump decided to publicly muse about whether a cornerstone of American justice – due process – even applies to immigrants. And in a related, equally bizarre move, his Homeland Security Department is now reportedly offering $1,000 to undocumented immigrants if they agree to pack their bags and "self-deport."

Let's start with the President's casual questioning of constitutional rights. In an interview on "Meet the Press" this past Sunday, as reported by PBS NewsHour, Trump was directly asked if he agrees with his Secretary of State's assertion that everyone, citizens and noncitizens alike, deserves due process. His response? "I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know."

When pressed further, with the interviewer noting the Fifth Amendment guarantees due process, Trump continued to equivocate: "It seems -- it seems -- it might say that, but if you're talking about that, then we'd have to have a million or two million or three million trials." He then essentially punted, saying his "brilliant lawyers" would follow what the Supreme Court says. This, from the President of the United States, sworn to uphold the Constitution.

This public display of "I dunno, maybe trials are too much work?" comes as his administration is already under intense fire and facing potential criminal contempt charges for defying court orders related to illegal deportations, like in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. It's one thing to be accused of violating due process; it's another level of WTF entirely for the President to openly question whether it should even be a thing for millions of people.

But wait, there's more! While the President is noncommittal about trials, his DHS has a new plan to expedite departures: cash incentives. According to PBS NewsHour, the administration announced on Monday they will pay undocumented immigrants $1,000, plus travel assistance, if they "self-deport" back to their home countries. Trump elaborated, saying, "We're going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from. And they have a period of time. And if they make it, we're going to work with them so that maybe someday with a little work they can come back in, if they're good people."

So, the strategy appears to be:

1. Question whether fundamental legal protections apply.

2. Face court battles for ignoring those protections.

3. Simultaneously, offer a cash payout for people to waive those potential protections and just leave.

It's a bizarre carrot-and-stick approach where the stick is potential unconstitutional removal and the carrot is a grand (and a plane ticket). Critics might see this "self-deportation" bonus as a coercive tactic, designed to get people to leave quickly and avoid the very due process the President seems so unsure about providing in the first place.

Is this an admission that providing due process to everyone is too hard, so they'll just try to pay people off to skip it? Is it a genuine attempt at a novel immigration solution, or a cynical ploy to reduce numbers while sidestepping legal obligations?

Whatever the intent, the combination of the President openly questioning a bedrock constitutional right while his administration offers cash for "voluntary" departures paints a deeply troubling picture of the state of immigration policy and respect for the rule of law. It's a constitutional shrug paired with a cash-for-departure scheme, and it's a truly unsettling Daily Dose of WTF.

Sources:

• PBS NewsHour. "May 5, 2025 - PBS News Hour full episode." (Reporting on Trump's "I don't know" comments about due process and the $1000 self-deportation offer). May 5, 2025.