President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he could potentially use the United States military to carry out mass deportations once he returns to office in January.
Trump had responded “TRUE!!!” to a Truth Social post from Tom Fitton, the head of a conservative group Judicial Watch, in which he said a mass deportation program would be carried out.
“Reports are the incoming [Trump] administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program,” Fitton wrote on Truth Social, sparking the remark from Trump.
However, Trump may not have the support of all Republicans if he does attempt to use the military to carry out large-scale deportations.
On Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he would oppose Trump’s potential actions while speaking with CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”
“What we know now about the immigration authorities who would have to be charged with rounding these individuals up, there are just 6,000 agents, 41,000 detention beds to carry out the assignment of rounding up millions of undocumented people, potentially. How do you suggest they implement it?” the show’s anchor Margaret Brennan asked Paul.
“And if this is a red line for you, in terms of using the military, would you vote no on the DHS Secretary Kristi Noem?” she added.
“I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think it’s a terrible image,” Paul replied.
Karoline Leavitt, a Trump transition team spokesperson, shared that the president-elect “will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering costs for families.”
Paul added during his appearance that he doesn’t “recommend to use the army” for deportations, but that he “would use the FBI, I would use [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], I would use Border Patrol.”
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“If they send the army into New York, and you have 10,000 troops marching, carrying semi-automatic weapons, I think it’s a terrible image, and I will oppose that. But it’s not that I oppose removing people,” Paul later added.
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