by Jason Hopkins
President-elect Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he would declare a national emergency and use military resources to facilitate him carry out his plans for mass deportations.
“TRUE!!!” – wrote the president-elect on Truth Social early Monday this morning in response to a post by Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. Fitton posted about reports indicating that the incoming Trump administration “is poised to declare a national emergency and will use military resources to reverse Biden’s invasion through a mass deportation program.”
The Truth Social post was the latest indication that the president-elect and his administration intend to pursue an extremely tough immigration enforcement agenda over the next four years.
During the Trump campaign he promised continue building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, revitalize the Remain in Mexico program, hire more Border Patrol agents and carry out “the largest deportation program in American history.” He also declared that he would abolish the birthright citizenship of people born on American soil to illegal immigrants.
The incoming administration appears poised to pursue this tough agenda, given who has been elected to top immigration enforcement positions. White House Transition Team chose former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan as border czar, Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security are all considered very hawkish on border enforcement .
Trump has not yet revealed who will lead ICE, Customs and Border Protection, or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, three agencies within DHS that play a key role in the U.S. immigration process
This wouldn’t be the first time Trump has used his national emergency powers to support his immigration agenda.
During his first term, a Republican president decided emergency to provide more funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He later expanded this national emergency declaration to maintain progress on wall construction efforts.
As he did during his first term, Trump will likely face lawsuits against his immigration agenda from immigrant rights groups and other liberal organizations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed over 400 legal actions against Trump and his first administration since 2016, much of it involving immigration directives, and has said he will go to court again when Trump takes office again.
“From day one, we have been ready to fight for our civil liberties and civil rights in the courts, in Congress and in our communities,” the organization said after Trump’s Election Day victory. “We did it in his first term – bringing 434 legal actions against Trump while he was in office – and we will do it again.”
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
