Civil rights advocates are formulating legal strategies against Donald Trump’s anticipated mass deportation campaign, including his plan to use U.S. military forces to round up and detain unauthorized immigrants.
Trump confirmed on social media recently his administration’s plan to declare a national emergency in order to use the military to assist in deportations.
Anthony Romero
“President-elect Trump will soon have the full power of the U.S. government machinery at his disposal to target and displace immigrants at a scale our nation has never experienced,” said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “As we ready litigation and create firewalls for freedom across blue states, we must also sound the alarm that what’s on the horizon will change the very nature of American life for tens of millions of Americans.”
The ACLU already initiated an action related to future deportations, a Nov. 18 federal lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement demanding records on how existing aviation assets might be expanded during mass expulsions.
ICE Air Operations is the federal government’s division of chartered, private and commercial aviation operators used to transfer migrants and other detainees between detention facilities within the U.S. and to remove noncitizens from the country. The operation has remained busy throughout Joe Biden’s presidency, deporting more than 140,000 people in 2023, and it may be expanded to expatriate more than 11 million by the incoming administration, ACLU said.
“The litigation comes on the heels of comments made by President-elect Donald Trump reiterating his promise to launch the largest deportation program in American history on day one of his second term.”
“Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of migrants would be permanently displaced in countries where they do not know any of the people or the language.”
Meanwhile, NBC News reported the Trump team is compiling a list of third-party nations to receive deportees when immigrants’ home countries will not accept them: “The plans could mean that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of migrants would be permanently displaced in countries where they do not know any of the people or the language and have no connection to the culture.”
The report identified the Bahamas, Grenada, Panama and Turks and Caicos as possible destinations for some deported immigrants. However, officials in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos later announced they would not accept deportees from the U.S., according to the Miami Herald.
Reuters subsequently reported Mexico also does not want to receive non-Mexican deportees: “Mexico is seeking an agreement with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to ensure it does not receive deportees from third countries in case of large-scale deportations of migrants from the United States, (Mexican) President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday.”
There is a precedent for deporting migrants to countries other than own. The ACLU sued the Trump administration in 2020 for sending migrants from El Salvador and Honduras to Guatemala after being apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Tom Homan
“The result is a deadly game of musical chairs that leaves many desperate asylum seekers without a safe haven, in violation of U.S. and international law,” the civil rights group argued in the suit still pending in federal court.
Incoming Trump “border czar” Tom Homan has vowed swift and vigorous anti-immigration actions and threatened to block federal funds to states that do not cooperate with the effort.
During a recent visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, he praised Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s aggressive anti-immigration actions, including erecting razor wire along portions of the border, using state law enforcement to detain and deport migrants, and deploying National Guard troops from multiple states to counter illegal crossings.
“Let me be clear: There is going to be a mass deportation because we just finished a mass illegal immigration crisis on the border.”
“This is a model we can take across the country. We’re going to help Gov. Abbott finish the job he started,” Homan said in a CBS News report. “Let me be clear: There is going to be a mass deportation because we just finished a mass illegal immigration crisis on the border.”
In its lawsuit against immigration officials, the ACLU explained its action followed unsuccessful Freedom of Information Act requests for data about ICE air operations related to ongoing and future deportations.
Kyle Virgien
“For months, the ACLU has been preparing for the possibility of a mass detention and deportation program, and FOIA litigation has been a central part of our roadmap,” said Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the organization’s National Prison Project. “A second Trump administration underscores the urgency of our litigation.”
The action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and seeks access to all records and contracts related to removal flights, ground transportation, disclosure of airfields and airports used and internal communication about policies and procedures.
Eva Bitran
“Little is known about how President-elect Trump would carry out its mass deportation agenda, but what we do know is that this proposal has already instilled fear among immigrant communities,” said Eva Bitran, director of immigrants’ rights at ACLU of Southern California. “The public has a right to know how its taxpayer dollars could be used to fund deportation flights that would tear apart not only families, but also our communities.”
Over the weekend, Trump indicated he would like to work with Democrats to help one specific segment of illegal immigrants, the so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. by their parents are children. Republicans in Congress previously have declined to take action to protect Dreamers, even though doing so is a popular idea with bipartisan voters.
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