President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed that he will declare a national emergency and use the US military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented migrants. CNN’s Kate Bolduan made the announcement Monday morning on the network, saying, “President-Elect Donald Trump confirming that he is going to use the US military to carry out his mass deportation policy. Trump saying on social media early this morning that reports he’ll declare a national emergency are true.”
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton posted to X, formerly Twitter: “GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.” Trump answered that post on Truth Social with a one-word confirmation: “TRUE!!”
HUGE: President @RealDonaldTrump confirms he is prepared to declare a national emergency and use the military assets to reverse the Biden invasion. pic.twitter.com/XnqW121GnQ
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) November 18, 2024
According to Axios, President-elect Trump’s recent statement marks “the first time he has confirmed how his administration will execute the controversial plan.” During his presidential campaign, Trump pledged to use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport tens of millions of undocumented migrants, which would be the largest such operation in U.S. history. Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) told Martha Raddatz on This Week Sunday that Trump’s plan focuses on deporting “hardened criminals,” not individuals like people’s grandmothers.
“If the message is, ‘We’re here to deport your abuelita,’ that’s not going to work well,” Gonzales said. “It has to be one of holding these hardened criminals accountable.” Raddatz counted, “Now, they have said that they’ll deport criminals first, but they’ve already said, everyone else — there are 11 to 13 million undocumented workers in this country. So, how does this work? How do you convince them to let people who are picking fruit, stay?” The Texas Republican replied: “That’s where we need to focus. I’m talking about the convicted criminal aliens, that keeps all Americans safe.”
Former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan, whom Trump has appointed as Border Czar to oversee mass deportations, responded to comments from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who stated that the state will work to block the deportation of illegal immigrants. “Look, I’m gonna do everything that I can to protect our undocumented immigrants; they’re residents of our state,” Pritzker told MSNBC’s Joy Reid after Trump’s election victory. “Uh… and I and I also obviously need to make sure that uh… whatever they’re doing in our state, the federal government, that it is actually within federal law or state law for them to do it.” The governor added, “One who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people, you come through me.”
While speaking with conservative commentator and activist Charlie Kirk on Thursday, Homan stated that the Trump administration is prepared to confront Pritzker and other Democratic leaders who seek to defy federal immigration law. “Game on,” Homan said without hesitation after listening to a clip of Pritzker’s remarks. “Game on, we’ve got no problem going through him. I have 20,000 men and women in ICE who are going to do their job with no apology. Congress has enacted a law that protects this country.” In his characteristic blunt style, the incoming border czar explained that it is the governor who is violating the law.
“People need to understand, ‘but what if they’re not criminal aliens?’ Look, entering this country illegally is a crime. Every illegal alien in this country committed a crime to get here, so they’re all criminals. And look, there’s some worse than others, I get that. And even if they’re not a criminal alien, when you cross that border and you overwhelm the border patrol, just because you’re simply an illegal alien, not a criminal, when you overrun the border patrol, that’s when they get busy changing diapers, making baby food, making hospital runs, making transportation runs,” he said.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.