As Donald Trump continues to fill out the cabinet for his upcoming second term, the logistics behind the mass deportations that became a backbone of his campaign strategy are starting to take shape.
As well as reports that the president-elect plans on executing major expansions of immigrant detention facilities to house detained immigrants prior to deportation, perhaps no sign has been as telling as the anointment of ex-ICE acting director Thomas Homan as the new "border czar".
Homan has been outspoken about deportations in the past, claiming during this year's Republican Nacional Convention that he would launch "the biggest deportation force" ever seen in the country if put in the position to do so. Now that he is, in fact, in that position, he has pushed the rhetoric even further, threatening to ramp up workplace immigration raids and suggesting that undocumented immigrants should "self-deport".
On Wednesday, Texas GOP Representative Dan Crenshaw chimed in on the topic of deportations during an Axios event, providing what he seemed to convey as a reassuring message that then morphed into a more ominous suggestion.
Crenshaw began by stating the extent to which he believes deportations will be performed, at least at the beginning of the Trump administration:
"I think a lot of people ... they want it to mean this to scare folks politically — and I think this was the case during the election— was this sort of door-to-door type of mass deportation"
However, rather than denying this altogether, the Congressman stated that executing door-to-door deportations could be a matter of time and contingent on available resources:
"We don't have the resources for that. I don't see that happening," he continued. "There's plenty of deportation to do prior to getting to that point, so I just don't think anyone should fear this idea"
Crenshaw went on to say that deportations will start with a list of people that Homeland Security Investigations already has on their radar. He then added that added that the policy could also mean that "every once in a while" there is a "roundup of a certain company" known to hire people who entered the country illegally.
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