U.S. migrant rights advocates alarm Trump’s appointments | Donald Trump news

As US President-elect Donald Trump looks to fill key Cabinet positions in his new administration, experts and human rights groups in the United States have said his decisions so far point to a tough approach to immigration policy.

Trump announced on Monday that Tom Homan – a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director – will serve as his “border czar,” while it was also reported that longtime adviser Stephen Miller will serve as his deputy chief of staff for policy.

Homan and Miller were the architects of some of Trump’s most controversial immigration policies during his first term, including the separation of migrant and asylum-seeking families seeking protection at the U.S.-Mexico border and the so-called Muslim ban.

With the Republican set to take office in January promising to carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history,” advocates say the new appointments are a signal that Trump is trying to make good on his campaign promise.

“They’ve learned a lot since they were last in power,” immigration attorney Greg Siskind said of Miller and Homan.

“We will see if they take a slower, more methodical approach to finding ways around the obstacles they encountered last time, or if they take a bull-in-the-China-shop approach “Where they just start breaking things,” he told Al Jazeera.

Long-time consultants

Tackling immigration – an issue that has consistently been among Americans’ top concerns in the run-up to the Nov. 5 presidential election – was a central part of Trump’s successful re-election campaign.

The former president and his Republican allies for months attacked Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden over their handling of the issue, pledging to “close” the U.S.-Mexico border and deport millions of people.

In a statement announcing Homan’s appointment on Sunday, Trump said there was “no one better at policing and controlling our borders.” He added that Homan, as “border czar,” was responsible for all deportations of “illegal aliens back to their country of origin.”

Homan — who served as ICE director during Trump’s first term, which lasted from 2017 to 2021 — has been a vocal supporter of efforts to deport undocumented immigrants from the country.

“I turned off my phone Friday night because I couldn’t handle the calls, texts and emails from thousands of ICE agents and Border Patrol agents upset about the rumor that I was coming back,” he said in one Interview with FOX News on Monday.

“And more importantly, thousands of retired agents, retired military, who are volunteering to come in and help this president secure the border and run the deportation operation.”

Miller, one of Trump’s longtime advisers who often uses inflammatory, anti-immigrant rhetoric, has also been a vocal supporter of mass deportations.

In a podcast interview last year, he said that National Guard units could be deployed to various states to help with the deportation offensive.

He also told The New York Times in November 2023 that the government could set up “camps” to hold people until they are deported.

Arash Azizzada, an immigrant rights activist and founding co-director of the group Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, said the appointments of Homan and Miller showed that Trump was determined to implement his “cruel and racist political promises.”

“We will fight back to protect our vulnerable newcomers,” he told Al Jazeera in a text message.

“This is why we have also called on blue cities and states to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities as a bulwark against the deportation machine that threatens Trump,” Azizzada added, referring to Democratic-led areas .

During his interview with FOX News, Homan said additional enforcement staff could be deployed if states and localities refuse to cooperate with the incoming Trump administration on its deportation plans.

“We will do the job without you or with you,” he said.

Possible challenges

While Trump has stated that immigration enforcement will only affect people who are in the U.S. undocumented, activists have raised alarm over previous statements that appeared to support even more radical policies.

During his campaign, Trump said that Haitians who are in the country legally under a federal law granting them “temporary protected status” are actually “illegal immigrants to me.” He said he would have her deported.

Trump has also announced he will sign an executive order limiting birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution that grants citizenship to anyone born in the country, regardless of the legal status of their parents.

But Siskind, the immigration lawyer, said such efforts would surely face major legal challenges in court.

The same probably applies to other tough measures, such as declaring that people trying to enter the United States at the Mexican border would amount to an “invasion,” using emergency measures and quickly deporting people under a law from the United States 18th century.

“Their ambitions could become reality,” he said.

“Keep fighting”

Still, migration advocates across the U.S. are preparing for a sweeping crackdown on the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees under Trump’s new administration.

With elections still pending in the US House of Representatives, there is a strong possibility that Republicans could take control of both chambers of Congress after the party has already secured a majority in the Senate.

That would give the elected Republican president a strong position to push through his political plans.

But while many organizations expect an attack once Trump returns to the White House, others have stressed that the task of defending immigrants’ rights has often been a lonely one under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

“While many believe we are in the darkest moment in our country’s political history, we want to remind you that we have been in this moment for quite some time. Immigrants are always the proverbial canary in the mine,” said Al Otro Lado, a group that works with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Under the current [Biden] “We saw them fight to keep the border closed under the Trump-era policy, Title 42. We have seen them refuse to process refugees at U.S. ports of entry, in violation of federal and international law,” the organization said in a statement.

“It doesn’t matter who is in power at this point. Al Otro Lado’s mission remains unchanged. We will continue to raise our voices, expose injustices and fight, just as we did in the first round of Trump.”

It doesn’t matter who is in power at this point. Al Otro Lado’s mission remains unchanged. We will continue to raise our voices, expose injustices and fight, just as we did in the first round of Trump. We know that good things can and will happen, and we are inspired by the strength… pic.twitter.com/QZ6mOTapUE

— Al Otro Lado (@AlOtroLado_Org) November 8, 2024