President-elect Donald Trump’s promise of a “mass deportation” operation once he takes office has raised specters of open-air camps in the desert, troops patrolling streets and immigrants disappearing en masse from restaurants, farms and construction sites. The man Trump tasked with executing the deportation effort, his so-called border czar, Tom Homan, has given several interviews saying how the operation would work ― and how it would not.
ICE to take the lead on mass deportation
Homan, in various interviews, has said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would conduct deportations and that the process would happen systemically and professionally. “It’s not going to be massive sweeps of neighborhoods with military,” he said on the “Sara Carter Show” on Nov. 11. “It’s not going to be putting people in so-called concentration camps. ... It’s going to be a targeted enforcement operation.” Homan said in the interviews that people in the country illegally who pose public safety or national security threats were the top priority. He said ICE agents would do detective work to find the locations of those people. “It’s going to be a mass deportation operation, but with common sense,” Homan said Nov. 15 on the “Triggered” podcast, hosted by Donald Trump Jr. “Take the worst first.” However, he said, if anyone here illegally is found near a targeted person, they could be swept up, too. “If you’re in the country illegally,” Homan said on the Carlson show, “you’ve got a problem.” Homan, on the Dr. Phil podcast Dec. 10, said there were approximately 20,000 ICE agents and another 20,000 Border Patrol agents. He said he would want 1 million ICE agents. The website USAJobs.com, the official portal for jobs within the federal government, listed in mid-January several positions open with ICE — but none for the strictly law enforcement positions, including deportation officers or criminal investigators. The ICE website said the background check for applicants averaged three months but could take as long as a year.
Could the US military get involved in immigration enforcement?
Trump has said he would declare a national emergency and invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow the president to deploy the U.S. military within the United States. That would include federalized members of the National Guard. Trump could activate the 8,000 guardsmen in the Arizona National Guard, said Maj. Erin Hannigan, director of communications for the state guard. The members of the force are scattered throughout the state, she said. They could have a few days to muster into Phoenix, she said, depending on the mission and projected length of deployment. Traditionally, guardsmen deployed in border operations are assigned support roles. Federal law doesn’t allow for troops to enforce laws within the United States. But the exception is the Insurrection Act, which allows for the militia to "execute the laws of the Union.”
Police and sheriff's offices could assist feds with enforcement
Homan discussed partnering with local law enforcement agencies but was not specific on how that would work. A program that allows law enforcement agencies to become quasi-immigration officers for limited purposes already exists. The program ― called 287(g) after the section of federal statute that defines it ― mainly allows local authorities to take action against people in their jails. The ICE website lists five agencies that have 287(g) agreements with ICE. They are: the Arizona Department of Corrections, the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office, the Mesa Police Department, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. Homan said on the Carlson podcast that mayors or governors who did not wish to participate with ICE should “stand aside.” He said that any officials who “impede” or “harbor” migrants pursued by ICE could face felony charges.
Where might the government locate immigration detention centers?
Homan also said he would not know how many migrants he could deport until he got a look at the budget. He said he would need beds to house migrants detained in the deportation process. “If I don’t have beds,” he said on the Tucker Carlson podcast Dec. 18, “it’s going to be hard to do this.” In August, the Department of Homeland Security requested information from entities willing to provide detention facilities within a two-hour drive of Phoenix. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about why the request was made or if it received responses. The August query that included Arizona also sought potential sites in Texas, Washington and California. Similar queries were sent for potential detention facility sites in, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico and New Jersey, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit seeking documents related to the queries.
Reach Ruelas at 602-444-8473 or at . Follow the reporter at @ruelaswritings on X.
