Trump promises 'deportation force' to remove illegal aliens
Donald Trump said on the MSNBC show Morning Joe that he would "humanely" remove 11 million illegal aliens by creating a "deportation force."
Trump supplied no details about such a force – how many, what department it would report to, what kind of budget it would have. Only that it would act "humanely."
Trump was pressed for specifics on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" by co-host Mika Brzezinski, who asked if he would have a "massive deportation force."
"You're going to have a deportation force, and you're going to do it humanely," Trump said. "Don't forget, Mika, that you have millions of people that are waiting in line to come into this country and they're waiting to come in legally. And I always say the wall, we're going to build the wall. It's going to be a real deal. It's going to be a real wall."
Included in the immigration proposal Trump released this past August is a call for to triple the number of immigrations and customs enforcement agents. He has also proposed ending birthright citizenship, which is included in the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution and grants automatic citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.
Trump was hit by both John Kasich and Jeb Bush for sticking by his call to deport 11 million people and build a wall along the Mexican border during Tuesday night's fourth Republican debate.
"We all know you can't pick them up and ship them across, back across the border. It's a silly argument," Kasich fired off during the debate. "It is not an adult argument. It makes no sense."
But as the moderators tried to move on from the exchange between Kasich and Trump, Trump cut in and dismissed Kasich completely.
"I built an unbelievable company worth billions and billions of dollars," Trump said. "I don't have to hear from this man, believe me. I don't have to hear from him."
I know it's useless to point out the absurdity of creating a "deportation force," but I find it interesting that most Trump supporters who rightfully have a healthy skepticism when it comes to government programs would buy into this massive increase in federal police power. I guess giving lip service to "small government" is okay if the candidate who wants to vastly expand the power of the national government is named "Trump."
Will the officers in the deportation force be trained to ask politely for proof of citizenship or if someone is in the country legally? Of course, there will be no "racial profiling," so everyone of every color and every ethnic background is going to be asked to prove that he has a right to be in the U.S. Sounds like fun, huh?
I could get really mean and compare a deportation force to the SS or the Gestapo. But that would be unfair – mostly. Except we really don't know what powers this new national police force would have, do we? Would they have the power to arrest people? To detain them? It makes for interesting speculation to wonder what a Trump deportation force would be capable of doing to civil liberties.