RIGHT SPEAK: The Case for Mass Deportations: All The Reasons Why; How Democrats Will Try to Block Trump’s Promise of Mass Deportations

The Case for Mass Deportations:

All the reasons why.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to “launch the largest deportation of criminals in American history.” That is a quote from a Nov. 2 rally in Salem, Virginia, but Trump has said precisely the same thing dozens of times. Still, through the course of a long campaign, with his improvisational style, Trump has occasionally worded his pledge differently. For example, at his Madison Square Garden rally, Trump said, “On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.” Back on May 24, at his rally in the South Bronx, Trump pledged to “immediately begin the largest criminal deportation operation in our country’s history.” So variations in wording aside, when Trump talks about mass deportation, he is talking about the mass deportation of criminals.

It’s hard to imagine opposing Trump’s proposal. Who would want to help murderers and drug dealers who entered the country illegally remain in the United States? Yet we have seen much talk that Trump deportation plans go far, far beyond criminals and will ultimately lead to 10, 15 or perhaps even 20 million people being removed from the country. Part of this is media hysteria. But part of it comes from loose talk by Trump and his advisers.

But the Trump plan has been visible in plain sight for quite a while. First, the new administration will seek to quickly deport those illegal immigrants who are deemed national security threats. At the same time, it will pursue illegal immigrants with criminal records, either in the United States or some other country. And all the while it will assign priority to the illegal migrants whose cases have already been adjudicated and ordered removed.

“You concentrate on the public safety threats and the national security threats first because those are the worst of the worst,” Tom Homan, recently named as Trump’s “border czar,” said over the weekend on Fox News. “So it’s going to be the worst first. That’s how it has to be done. We know a record number of people on the terrorist watch list have crossed this border. We know a record number of terrorists have been released in this country. We have already arrested some [who were] planning attacks. So look, the president is dead-on when he said criminal threats, national security threats are going to be prioritized. And that’s the way it’s going to be.”

There is a clear guide for doing this. Last year, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement reported that as of September 30, 2023, there were 1,292,830 people in the United States illegally who have had full legal due process and have received a final deportation order from an immigration judge. In the ensuing year, there are estimates that number has grown to somewhere between 1.35 million and 1.6 million.

The vast majority of those people are not in detention. But they have had final orders of deportation, so they are subject to removal at any time. It’s just that the Biden administration has not removed them.

Would Trump deportations go beyond that group of 1.35 million to 1.6 million already ordered removed? Remember that many more millions crossed illegally into the United States during the Biden years. What to do with them? The vast majority do not have valid claims of asylum or any legal right to remain in the United States. --->READ MORE HERE

Damian Dovarganes/AP

How Democrats will try to block Trump’s promise of mass deportations:

Six top blue-state law enforcement officials tell POLITICO about their early strategies to counter the incoming president.

Democratic attorneys general are preparing a raft of legal actions to prevent Donald Trump from carrying out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, setting the stage for a series of showdowns over one of his central campaign pledges.

In interviews with POLITICO, six leading blue-state prosecutors said they are girding to take Trump to court over misusing military troops on domestic soil, attempting to commandeer local or state law enforcement to do the job of the federal government and denying people’s constitutional right to due process.

The attorneys general also said they would move to challenge Trump if he tries to federalize the National Guard — or attempts to direct active-duty military units or National Guard troops from red states into blue states. They are bracing to push back against his administration sending immigration agents into schools and hospitals to target vulnerable populations.

And they are preparing to fight Trump over withholding federal funding from local law enforcement agencies in an attempt to induce them into carrying out deportations, as he did unsuccessfully in his first term.

The attorneys’ preparations underscore the depth of concern among blue-state leaders about Trump’s deportation plans and foreshadow the major role state prosecutors will continue to play in shaping the country’s immigration policy. Following a rash of red-state challenges to President Joe Biden’s immigration agenda over the last four years, it’s now blue-state attorneys who are positioned to set off another round of legal clashes — this time intended to stymie Trump on his signature issue.

“There are ways to [handle immigration] that are in line with American values and conform to American law. But they don’t seem to be interested in pursuing that,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a former federal prosecutor who has experience in immigration enforcement, said of Trump and his allies. “And that’s where someone like me has an important role to play.”