Donald Trump, who came to the fore with his promise of mass deportations during his presidential campaign, said on Monday that he would use the US military to deport millions of people.
The Pentagon has publicly criticized Trump’s promise to use the military for mass deportations. “This is absolutely insane,” one Pentagon official told The Intercept. “It’s incredible to see this kind of policy as a serious policy.” The official said the legal and logistical hurdles were significant and the proposal was not realistic or serious.
“On my first day in office, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history,” Trump said at a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
US-elected President Donald Trump said, that I will liberate every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will imprison these brutal criminals and expel them from our country as soon as possible.
Trump has not provided specifics on the cost of his deportation plan. Still, an analysis by the American Immigration Council estimates that such an operation would cost at least $315 billion, while a long-term plan could exceed $968 billion. Those figures do not include the $105 billion in annual taxes paid by deported immigrants or the economic impact of losing 5 percent of the US workforce.
Trump’s advisers declined to comment on how the massive costs would be met or on the details of the military operations.
Trump’s immigration advisor Stephen Miller has said he has proposed using military funds to build large detention centers for immigrants who will be deported in 2023. According to experts, such a military intervention would fundamentally change the traditional mission of the US armed forces.
Trump also said he plans to deport suspected drug cartel members without due process by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. That law allows for the deportation of people from countries with which the U.S. is at war or that have invaded the U.S.
Trump’s reference to the discriminatory “Operation Wetback” model, which was implemented in 1954 to deport Mexican immigrants, also drew attention during his presidential campaign. As part of this operation, approximately 1 million Mexican immigrants, and even some Mexican-Americans, were deported.
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that this upcoming plan will fundamentally change the lives of tens of millions of Americans. Nearly 1.5 million immigrants were deported during Trump’s first term, and the Biden administration is on track to match that number.
