President-elect Donald Trump confirmed today that he intended to declare a national emergency and use the U.S. military to assist in deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. He responded “TRUE!!!” to a post by a conservative activist summarizing the strategy.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s top immigration policy adviser, described similar plans during the campaign. He said the military would be used to build “vast holding facilities” for migrants as their cases progressed, and suggested that Trump might invoke a public health emergency power to curtail the hearing of asylum claims. The president-elect’s team also shared plans to stop issuing passports to the newborn children of undocumented immigrants in a bid to end birthright citizenship.
Trump’s team said it had aimed to significantly increase the number of deportations without new legislation from Congress. It anticipates legal challenges, but presidents have broad power to declare national emergencies.
