TOI correspondent from Washington: Former US President and MAGA supremo Donald Trump on Friday said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport illegal immigrants if he is elected to the White House. The rarely used law was last applied to corral immigrants of Japanese descent -- mostly US citizens -- in internment camps during World War Two.
Ratcheting up his anti-immigrant rhetoric with falsehoods and hyperbole during a campaign event in Colorado, Trump directly blamed his opponent
Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, for what he characterized as an "invasion" of the US by migrants resulting in rampart crimes, an allegation not borne out by government data at the federal or local level.
“Kamala has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the Third World,” Trump told raucous supporters in Aurora, a town he alleges has been overrun by Venezuelan gang members, a claim refuted by local officials, including Republicans. “I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” added, pledging that his administration will “get them the hell out of our country.”
He followed up his pledge with a social media post saying, "We are now known, all throughout the world, as OCCUPIED AMERICA... But to everyone here in Colorado and all across our nation, I make you this vow: November 5th, 2024 will be LIBERATION DAY in America."
Standing before signs that read “deport illegals now” and “end migrant crime,” at the rally, Trump said invoked the names of Americans who have been killed or mortally wounded "at the hands of migrants who should never have been allowed into our Country," to announce that upon taking office, he will launch "OPERATION AURORA at the Federal Level...to dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American Soil."
"No person who has inflicted the violence and terror that Kamala Harris has inflicted on this community can EVER be allowed to become President of the United States!" he said.
Colorado is a Democrat-leaning state where Trump has little change of winning. But he is expanding his outreach to blue states -- including New York and California -- ostensibly to rile up his base with bigger crowds in more populous states even as supporters in battleground states tire of his rhetoric. Polls suggest he has expanded his appeal in blue states among voters upset by Democrat misgovernance and radical left policies although he is well short of winning these states.
Trump is now consistently distorting and misrepresenting data to make his case of an illegal immigrant "invasion" and migrant crime problem in America. While the US undoubtedly has a illegal immigration issue, the border crossing statistics that he cites, including claiming more than 21 million illegals coming in and 13,000 murderers on the loose, cover several administrations including his own.
In some speeches he has suggested a Kamala presidency would let in 25 million illegal immigrants a year, fantastic numbers which would increase US population by 100 million, or 30 per cent in four years. "You won't have a country left," he tells his supporters. Most recent data suggests that the US has around 12 million illegal immigrants -- a still considerable number even without exaggeration. They have come into the US over several administrations.
In rallies on Friday, Trump said he would implement a 10-year prison sentence for migrants who re-enter the US after being deported and impose the death penalty on illegal migrants who kill American citizens, on top of “the largest deportation in American history” on his first day in office.
Trump's hyper focus on illegal immigration comes amid polls showing he is losing his lead on the economy, with cooling inflation and a booming stock market helping Harris bridge the gap. “I know they do all these polls, and the polls say it’s the economy... and I can understand it a little bit. To me, it’s the horrible people that we’re allowing into our country that are destroying our country,” he said at a recent rally in Wisconsin.
Rajghatta is author of Kamala Harris: Phenomenal Woman