President Elect Trump Planning ‘Largest Deportation Operation’ In American History
Nov 06, 2024
President Elect Donald Trump is already laying out his plan for immigration. Those plans have some people concerned about their future.
“On day one, I will stop the migrant invasion,” President Elect Trump said. “We will begin the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”
Hector Vaca, immigrant justice director for Action NC says talk of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants is stirring up fear in our local community.
“We have families here in Mecklenburg County and in North Carolina, families that have come here seeking a better life, seeking the American dream just like anyone else,” Vaca said. “Our organization is concerned. Our members are telling us that they feel disillusioned. That they feel sad.”
Trump has promised to close the border and deport undocumented immigrants on day one of his second term. In his first term, Trump issued an executive order that banned people from Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States. Immigration attorney Andres Lopez says it will take more than deportation to correct the flaws in the immigration system.
“There needs to be a bipartisan solution, a comprehensive solution to dealing with how we got here in the first place,” Lopez said. “The idea that there’s one person that can simply suspend the law in order to deport millions of people, I don’t think that’s a realistic solution.”
Lopez says deporting people could have unintended consequences.
“We’re talking about people that are married to U.S. citizens, people that have U.S. citizen children, people that have U.S. citizen businesses and so forth,” Lopez said. “When you take them away, you’re really ripping apart the fabric of our community, our businesses, our churches and our economy.”
Action NC plans to host events to help people prepare for whatever happens next with immigration.
“We will be conducting workshops, teaching people what their rights are if they get stopped by anyone,” Vaca said. “We’re going to work on positive legislation that will support immigrants.”