It didn’t take long for a caravan of approximately 3,000 migrants headed for the US-Mexico border to shrink in half once former President Donald Trump secured re-election. While the president-elect and his team of advisors work to organize a deportation plan for immigrants already within the country’s borders, those here illegally are signaling they will not go without a fight. A case in point is New York City, which was a hub of discontent this weekend as thousands took to the streets of Manhattan to protest their removal.
Multiple sources report that the Big Apple has spent approximately $5 billion to feed and house its 400,000 illegal immigrants – 200,000 of which landed in the city in the last two years. Protesters – many of whom carried pre-printed signs – lined the streets and chanted: “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.” Nevertheless, there is palpable anxiety among those who are in the US with zero documentation.
Thus, it comes as no surprise that a powerful coalition is forming to stop the president-elect from keeping his pledge to the American people. Commenting on the large-scale protests this weekend, The New York Times suggested troubled waters ahead for the new Trump administration:
“[E]xperts said Mr. Trump faces daunting, if not insurmountable, legal, financial and logistical hurdles to carry out deportations at the scale he has promised. It would most likely require the hiring of tens of thousands of new federal immigration officers, billions of dollars in appropriations from Congress and the construction of hundreds of new detention facilities.”
Considering that this is one of the 47th president’s signature pledges, it’s doubtful he will be deterred no matter the forces that come against his deportation effort. On Sunday Morning Futures, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan – now officially set to become Trump’s “Border Czar” – told host Maria Bartiromo the administration will likely go about it by concentrating “on the public safety threats and the national security threats first – because those are the worst of the worst.”
Deportation: Who Pays the Piper?
A critical question regarding the deportation effort is the cost of implementing such a large-scale plan. Bartiromo guest Scott Bessent of Key Square Capital Management insists it won’t be as enormous a burden on the taxpayer as one might think. “Donald Trump has staged the biggest political comeback in history. And I think we are on the verge of a golden age in the economy for the next four years where we can have a growth agenda where we deregulate, have energy prices down, and get interest rates down and that will drive growth that we have not seen for years.” He summed up his financial assessment of the program as “a rounding error” by the time all is said and done.
As far as logistical hurdles go, Homan rejected the notion that the military would be used and claimed that it would be “a well-targeted planned operation led by the men and women of ICE.” Despite the difficulty of such an endeavor, which hasn’t been conducted since the Eisenhower era, the American people appear to be behind the deportation effort if the comments on the X platform are any indication.
“Illegals are protesting Trump in NYC. ‘We are not leaving.’ Who’s going to tell em no one is asking you to go willingly. Not sorry. Get in line like everyone else. You’re not special. My uncle is here legally after going through immigration the right way. No sympathy for you,” Todd Spears wrote on X.
Someone with the handle Jasper Disco agreed: “These illegals in NYC are protesting President Trump’s mass deportation plan. How [are] these illegals going to protest saying they are not going anywhere when their asses are not even supposed to be here in the first place?” Yet another opined, “Invaders protesting against Trump in NYC today due to their fear of being sent back to their home nations. All of them must be deported – By force if necessary.”
It appears that no matter the cost, Americans are willing to shell out the money to fund a mass deportation effort. Still, it won’t be easy, as leftist groups and faith-based organizations assemble their forces to fight this campaign pledge that is now a presidential mandate.
