Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker expressed concern about President-elect Donald Trump's intentions to call upon the military to assist with mass deportation efforts as part of a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.
".,.The idea of calling out, you know, the army into the domestic confines of the United States seems uncalled for and may, in fact, be unconstitutional and illegal," the governor said Friday. "We'll look into that. Honestly, he says a lot of things. You never know what he's telling the truth about."
Pritzker explained governors - not the president - have the ability to activate the National Guard within the nation's borders, citing Title 10 and Title 32 of U.S. Code.
"We, of course, are deeply concerned about, you know, the president of the United States calling out military inside the United States, where people are peaceful, even if there may be people who are undocumented," he said.
On Nov. 18, the president-elect responded “TRUE!!” to a post on Truth Social reporting that he would use “military assets” to carry out mass deportations.
Speaking last month at his Madison Square Garden rally in New York, Trump said: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out. I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”
As a candidate, Trump had repeatedly vowed to carry out the "largest deportation effort in American history." Asked about the cost of his plan, he said, "It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag."
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In one of his first personnel announcements, Trump announced via social media that he would put Tom Homan, his former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, “in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin,” a central part of his agenda.
It's unclear how many undocumented immigrants there are in the U.S., but acting ICE Director Patrick J. Lechleitner told NBC News in July that a mass deportation effort would be a huge logistical and financial challenge. Two former Trump administration officials involved in immigration during his first term told NBC News that the effort would require cooperation among a number of federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the Pentagon.
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Trump has said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act. That rarely used 1798 law allows the president to deport anyone who is not an American citizen and is from a country with which there is a “declared war” or a threatened or attempted “invasion or predatory incursion.”
Trump can direct his administration to begin the effort the minute he arrives in office, but it’s much more complicated to actually deport the nearly 11 million people who are believed to be in the United States illegally. That would require a huge, trained law enforcement force, massive detention facilities, airplanes to move people and nations willing to accept them.
