As newly elected President Donald Trump doubles down on his plan for mass deportations, some Republicans are trying to allay fears amid growing questions about who will have to leave the country.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News on Wednesday, Trump said: “It’s not a matter of a price tag, we have no choice… When people have been killing and murdering, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries , because they don’t stay here.”
But in previous interviews and on the campaign trail, Trump and others have not focused deportations solely on those who have committed violent crimes.
In an April interview with Time magazine, he said his mass deportations would “start with the criminals coming in” and added that he could deploy the military for an “invasion” of what he said were already 15 million immigrants – and there could be twenty. million – by the end of President Joe Biden’s term.
The prospect of mass deportations is creating fear and anxiety among noncitizen families and businesses that employ undocumented workers.
But some Republicans’ readings of Trump’s policies — which he has promised would lead to deportations on a scale never before seen in the U.S. — are more limited in scope.
Republicans in immigrant-heavy states have suggested he will prioritize or focus only on the worst criminals.
“I am confident that the Trump administration will not target the people who have been here for more than five years and who have American children, who have no criminal record, who have worked in the economy and paid taxes.” Florida Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said in a PBS interview. Her Miami-Dade neighborhood is home to about 200,000 undocumented immigrants.
“I am sure they will tackle the criminals who arrived less than four years ago,” she added.
When asked in the interview whether she received these assurances from Trump or from anyone in his potential administration, Salazar did not answer directly, but said she will be “one of those voices that will ensure that within the Republican party that distinction is made .”
And Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in an NBC News interview Wednesday that Trump “has made it clear that his priority is to deport dangerous criminals. People who are in this country who are criminals in their home country, or commit crimes here, will be the priority for removal from this country.”
NBC News contacted the Trump campaign and the offices of Salazar and Rubio to request more details and clarify the scope of the deportation plan.
Focusing on the deportation of immigrants who have been convicted and charged with crimes, or who are considered a danger to the US, was already done in the Obama and Biden administrations. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, Trump reversed Obama’s deportation priorities, expanding the pool of immigrants who could be targeted for removal and giving immigration enforcement officials more power to make those judgments.
Administrations have used various mechanisms for deportations, such as making agreements with local police to enforce federal immigration laws through the so-called 287(g) program, which allows them to help organize workplace raids or carrying out other arrests.
Some states have shared the names of people they stop for certain traffic violations with the Department of Homeland Security to check immigration or citizenship status. Others have checked every person in jail against DHS databases.
But Trump has repeatedly said he would carry out the largest deportation operation in American history on the first day of his administration.
Without naming it, Trump has invoked the Eisenhower administration’s 1950s deportations, which were labeled racist as “Operation Wetback.” Trump has also previously promised to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1789, which would give him the right to detain and deport non-citizens over the age of 14 in the United States.
The president-elect has also said he would withhold federal funding from police who do not cooperate with his mass deportation plan and use the National Guard to carry it out.
At a news conference, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Trump “has made it perfectly clear that this is a process and you have to have a list of priorities.” He said Trump would first “pursue all criminals who are here who crossed the border illegally and committed a crime in the United States or had a criminal background before entering the United States.”
But unlike Salazar and Rubio, Abbott said Trump would go further: “You start with the criminals and when you’re done with that, he’ll look elsewhere.”
The Texas governor also said it would take some time for Trump to carry out the deportations as he needs to rebuild Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But not long ago, some Republicans pushed back against Democratic administration efforts to prioritize certain immigrants over others for deportation.
Texas and Louisiana sued the Biden administration when DHS announced it would focus on non-citizens who pose a threat to national security, followed by those who pose a threat to public safety, and then those who pose a threat for border security. The attempt was blocked by the Supreme Court.
Artemio Muniz, chairman of the Federation of Hispanic Republicans, an arm of the Texas GOP, told NBC News on Wednesday that the coming “discussion” over mass deportations will be difficult.
With Trump’s victory sealed, Muniz said he would work to ensure “hardworking Mexican immigrants” are not deported.
“This is going to be a situation where some Republicans are going to push for mass deportations of everyone, but I believe President Trump, I believe the Republican Congress, senators and even the base to some extent … are going to say, ‘OK.’ Let us ensure that those who are deported are those who committed violent crimes, transnational gangs and so on,” he said.
He said Trump would not keep his campaign promise if the hardworking immigrants he is trying to protect are not included in the deportations.
“If he deports violent criminals, gang leaders and drug leaders, people who have committed violent crimes like rape or murder, isn’t that a mass deportation?” Muniz asked.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
