Senator Rand Paul opposes the use of the military to help conduct mass deportations
Senator Rand Paul participated in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation. Paul was supportive of the idea of conducting mass deportations. However, Paul believes that only law enforcement should be used. He painted a picture of the US military going through US cities, armed with weapons, as something that would not look good in the eye of the public.
From The Guardian:
While Paul still supports Trump’s plans to expel millions of immigrants from the US, the lawmaker has opposed using the US military to do so, arguing that law enforcement would be better suited.
The mass deportation plans have been widely condemned by civil rights groups and Democrats as cruel and potentially hugely damaging to the US economy. They may also affect many US citizen children, who may have one or both parents vulnerable to deportation.
During a Sunday interview with CBS News’s Face the Nation, Paul was asked how immigration authorities should carry out mass deportations.
“What we know now about the immigration authorities who would have to be charged with rounding these individuals up, there are just 6,000 agents, 41,000 detention beds to carry out the assignment of rounding up millions of undocumented people, potentially. How do you suggest they implement it?” asked the CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan.
Paul criticized plans to use the military for deportation as “illegal”, adding: “If they send the army into New York and you have 10,000 troops marching carrying semi-automatic weapons, I think it’s a terrible image, and I will oppose that.”
Paul did not directly respond to questions on whether use of the military to conduct deportations would impact his Senate vote to confirm Trump’s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security: the South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem.
Additional Reading:
Olapido, G. (2024, November 25). Republican senator opposes Trump’s plans to use US military for deportations. The Guardian. Link.
Category: Donald Trump, Illegal Immigrants, Society
