PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history has millions of undocumented migrants brazing for the worst.
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Homeland Security estimates most of the over 11 million unauthorized migrants in the U.S. are from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, the Philippines, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, India, and China. California, Texas, and Florida remain their leading states of residence.
U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz Balart told This Week In South Florida Anchor Glenna Milberg on Sunday that he thinks Trump’s mass deportation plan will prioritize foreign “serious criminals” and Chinese men of military age who were allowed in the U.S.
“I would be concerned if I was one of the violent criminals who got here recently,” Diaz-Balart said.
Trump nominated South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to replace Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security secretary and Tom Homan as his “border czar.” Homan’s position will not require Senate confirmation, but Noem does.
“Trump will deport the most dangerous illegal aliens first — the murderers, rapists, and other criminals that Harris and Biden let into the country,” Noem wrote on X after Trump’s victory. “They do not belong here, and we will not let them back in.”
Patrick J. Lechleitner, who has served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, since July 4, 2023, released data on Sept. 25 in response to a March 13 letter by U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, to Homeland Security.
“As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket, which includes those detained by ICE, and on the agency’s non-detained docket. Of those, 435,719 are convicted criminals, and 226,847 have pending criminal charges,” Lechleitner wrote.
Earlier this week, there was more about the plan on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.
“GOOD NEWS: Reports are the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program,” Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, a conservative foundation, wrote Monday on Truth Social.
Trump’s response: “TRUE!!!”
During TWISF, Diaz-Balart said executing Trump’s plan will be “a very difficult” process.
“It’s going to require time, effort, and cooperation,” Diaz-Balart said. “You have already seen that some communities around the country are refusing to cooperate with endorsing the law.”
In his letter, Lechleitner also reported several problems including that some jurisdictions have refused to honor ICE detainer requests —”even for noncitizens who have been convicted of serious felonies and pose an ongoing threat to public safety” — a “broken” immigration system, an “enormous” workload, and limited funding.
Diaz Balart also said during TWISF that although he is not a part of Trump’s incoming policy team, he is certain that Trump’s record is evidence that he will be “generous to those folks who are here doing the right thing.”
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