US President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his stance on illegal immigrants, confirming that he will declare a national emergency and deploy the military to deport undocumented immigrants once he assumes charge on January 20 next year.
Trump confirmed this as he responded to a post by his ally Tom Fitton, who wrote that the Trump administration is “prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program. Sharing the post, Trump commented, “TRUE!!!”
Trump has constantly highlighted the issue of illegal migrants throughout his presidential campaign, saying deportation of illegal immigrants would to be taken up soon. The issue has been one of the most discussed topics in the run-up to the November 5 election. The use of the military would be crucial in executing these deportations swiftly and effectively.
Trump linked the rise in crime, security issues, and law and order concerns to the influx of immigrants during the election campaign, and had pledged to carry out the “largest deportation in the history of America”.
However, no details about the plan have been given so far, report said. He also stated that he intends to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that grants the president the power to deport non-citizens from countries with which the US is at war.
The broad authority granted by the Alien Enemies Act could bypass restrictions on military involvement in civilian law enforcement. He had also mentioned deploying the National Guard, whose members can be activated by a governor’s orders. The US Department of Homeland Security puts the number of undocumented migrants in the US at 11 million.
Earlier, during his first term as US President, Trump had declared a national emergency at the southern border through an executive order to bypass Congress after it refused to fund his border wall.
