One of President-elect Donald Trump’s most controversial campaign promises involved the forced mass deportation of non-citizen, non-green card immigrants from the United States, a tricky goal which some experts say would face both legal and logistical hurdles. Estimates place the number of suspected illegal immigrants currently living in the U.S. somewhere between 7-12 million. Despite these and other challenges, Trump has promised to begin rolling out mass deportations on day one of his second term.
Watch the video above as Straight Arrow News contributor Ruben Navarrette urges Americans to calm down, take a step back, and consider the implications and consequences of a mass deportation campaign.
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The following is an excerpt from the above video:
I bet most Americans who reflexively call for mass deportations never think about that. Here are three more things they probably never think about. One, the price. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says each removal costs $10,000 per deportation, and the nativist insists that there are 20 million illegal immigrants in this country. Do the math. The price tag to deport them all, $200 billion, we don’t have it.
Two, the violation of civil rights. It is guaranteed that in any sweep, the civil rights of U.S. Latinos will be violated, especially if Trump uses local cops as his henchmen, thereby destroying public trust in local law enforcement for 50 years, which will, of course, increase crime rates.
And number three, the futility. It’s adorable that so many Americans think that migrants, once removed, won’t come back to reunite with their family and their friends, paying smugglers even higher prices to bring them across, thereby making the bad guys even stronger. Good plan.
I get it. Really, I do. A lot of Americans are sick and tired of what they consider an invasion by a bunch of uninvited house guests. Now, I’d argue that these folks were, in fact, invited, that there is no invasion, and that the invitation took the form of a giant help wanted sign along the U.S.-Mexico border. You see, U.S. employers keep hiring these people anyway.
Suffice to say, there are lots of ways to get rid of house guests. You could, for instance, burn your house to the ground. Problem solved. That’ll teach them. My fellow Americans, please calm down, come to your senses and step away from the matches.
