Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson cast doubt Sunday on NBC News about President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans, after suggesting that presidential executive orders should be banned.
During Trump’s campaign, the former president vowed to shut down the U.S. southern border and conduct a large-scale deportation operation. On “Meet the Press,” NBC host Kristen Welker questioned Johnson about Trump’s plan, noting how he planned to continue rolling out his goals for the border after signing executive orders.
“So, first of all, somebody should pass a law banning executive orders on day one. Because the reality is executive orders drafted by transition teams without the input of the affected agency before the cabinet secretaries are even confirmed are not great ideas,” Johnson said.
Johnson went on to call out the travel ban as an example of an executive order he disagreed with and was involved in during the Obama administration, noting that Guantanamo Bay is still open. The former secretary also said Trump should start with the deportation of criminals, national security threats and recent border crossers, highlighting the “reality of enforcement” even for Trump.
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“This idea of mass deportation, that would be the equivalent — if you tried to deport everyone in this country who’s undocumented — of the population of two New York cities, which could not happen in my lifetime,” Johnson added. “An administration, whether it’s Trump or [President Joe] Biden or [former President Barack] Obama, has to have enforcement priorities. Start with the criminals, start with the national security threats, recent border crossers.”
“Tom Homan knows that. I know he knows that because he used to work for me, and I’d rather see ERO go after the criminals versus somebody who’s been in this country 12 years, committed no crimes, has children who are U.S. citizens. That’s the reality of enforcement. I’m sure that will be the reality of enforcement even under a President Trump,” Johnson concluded.
Trump announced his nomination of former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan as his new “border czar” on Nov. 11, stating that Homan will “be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.” In addition to Trump’s promise to shut down the southern border and conduct a mass deportation operation, the former president also promised to revive the “Remain in Mexico” program, hire additional Border Patrol agents and re-establish the travel ban.
Since his presidential win, however, Democrat-led cities and states have already begun to push back against the incoming administration. On Thursday, Democratic Denver Mayor Mike Johnston vowed that the city’s police officers and residents would plan to resist the deportation effort.
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