Senate Majority Leader Urges GOP to Approach Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan with Realism
“Is it practical to deport everyone? There are many individuals in this country who are undocumented,” stated John Thune.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) expressed that Republicans must be “practical” regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s intentions to remove significant numbers of undocumented immigrants during his second term.
Trump has consistently prioritized mass deportations, often claiming that he would initiate the largest enforcement operation against undocumented immigrants in U.S. history. Following the November election, the president-elect appointed Tom Homan as his border czar, who has vowed to commence deportations from Day 1.
“There are certainly groups of individuals who have committed crimes,” Thune noted during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” when asked which categories would be prioritized for deportation.
“The current administration has identified over a million individuals for deportation. We must acknowledge that there are a significant number of people in this country today, over 10 million, who have entered in the past four years due to this administration’s policies, many of whom may not be here for justified reasons.”
Thune further detailed the actions Trump might take upon his inauguration, including measures aimed at enhancing border security.
“The first step is to secure the border and restructure the incentives to prevent people from being encouraged to enter illegally, which has been the case for the past four years. We also need to ensure that border personnel, ICE agents, and border officers have the resources necessary to carry out their duties,” he explained.
Related Stories
Thune clarified that the Senate will ensure that Trump’s administration has “the necessary resources to carry out these actions,” posing a question on the feasibility of deporting all undocumented residents.
“Is it truly feasible to deport everyone? There are indeed a multitude of individuals here illegally,” he remarked. “However, it appears they have already identified individuals, and as I mentioned earlier, anyone who has committed a crime in this country should be prioritized.”
“There are a significant number, around 1.4 million, on the current administration’s deportation list. So we should begin there, and then reevaluate our approach. Ultimately, these are decisions the incoming administration will need to make,” he added.
No public comments have been made by the president-elect or his administration in response to Thune’s remarks to NBC. The Epoch Times reached out to his transition team for a response on Monday but did not receive one by the time of publication.
“Worksite operations are essential,” Homan, the former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stated to Fox News in November. “Where do we often find victims of sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking? At work sites.”
In response, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and various pro-immigration organizations have vowed to oppose Trump’s deportation plans in the courts. During Trump’s initial term, the ACLU filed lawsuits against several of his enacted policies, particularly those related to immigration.
