President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed he is “prepared” to declare a national emergency and utilize military assets to fulfill his campaign promise of carrying out mass deportations.
Trump made the announcement on Monday through a post on his Truth Social platform, in response to a statement by Tom Fitton, president of the conservative group Judicial Watch. Fitton had reported that the incoming Trump administration was ready to declare a national emergency and use military resources to execute a “mass deportation” operation.
Trump’s brief reply to Fitton’s post was simply: “True!!!”
This marks the clearest statement yet regarding Trump’s intention to carry out what he described as the “largest deportation operation” in U.S. history, a promise he made during his 2024 re-election campaign.
The announcement has sparked widespread criticism from human rights advocates and raised serious concerns about the feasibility of such a plan, along with its legal and constitutional implications. It also raises questions about Trump’s ability to execute such a plan given potential legal challenges and restrictions on presidential power.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, responded to Trump’s remarks by pointing out that U.S. law restricts presidential powers in declaring a national emergency and deploying military forces for deportation. “And ‘use the military for deportations’ isn’t one of those specific things,” Reichlin-Melnick noted.
Despite pledging to focus on mass deportations for months, Trump has been vague on how he intends to implement such a plan after assuming office. The U.S. is home to an estimated 11 to 13 million undocumented immigrants, and critics argue that large-scale deportations would have significant humanitarian consequences.
Furthermore, rights groups have warned that executing such a policy would demand a massive increase in enforcement infrastructure, costing an estimated $967.9 billion over the next decade if the deportation rate were to rise to one million per year.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, has proposed using the National Guard, a branch of the military, to carry out large-scale raids and detentions. Tom Homan, a former head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Trump’s new “border czar,” has suggested focusing on “targeted enforcement” at work sites and locations involving public safety or national security threats.
To mitigate the issue of family separations, Homan emphasized that deported families could be sent together.
During the campaign, Trump also suggested invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law allowing presidents to deport citizens of “enemy nations” without standard procedures. Legal experts have cautioned, however, that this law is not applicable for mass deportations.
Reichlin-Melnick further noted that Trump previously declared a national emergency in 2019 to secure military funds for a border wall. He speculated that Trump may attempt a similar strategy to unlock military funding for deportation operations, but urged caution, saying, “We cannot take things that Trumpworld people say as gospel, given their total lack of specifics.”
While Trump’s bold statements about mass deportations have ignited controversy, legal and logistical obstacles could challenge the feasibility of this policy.
