Nov. 7 (UPI) — Massachusetts State Police won’t help federal agencies deport migrants if President-elect Donald Trump moves forward with mass deportations, Gov. Maura Healey says.
“No, absolutely not,” Healey, a Democrat, told MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell on Wednesday when he asked if Massachusetts would assist with deportations if the Trump administration sought help.
“I do think it’s important that we all recognize that there’s going to be a lot of pressure on states and state officials,” Healey said.
The president-elect said deporting more than 11 million undocumented migrants would require using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, deploying troops to the U.S. border and using local police to help detain and deport them, NPR reported.
She said Trump’s agenda over the past eight years has focused on immigration and he promised to begin the largest deportation in U.S. history starting on his first day in office in 2025.
She said Trump’s deportation efforts would encounter significant opposition in federal courts.
“The key here is that every tool in the toolbox is going to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents and protect our states,” Healey said.
She said states can use regulatory authority, regulations and legislation within respective states to “hold the line on democracy and the rule of law.”
Trump’s priority on his first day in office in 2025 is to reinstate his prior administration’s border policies and reverse those put in place by President Joe Biden, said Jason Miller, a senior Trump adviser, speaking to CNN.
Trump made immigration a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign and repeatedly said millions of non-vetted migrants have entered the United States. He also has called immigrants “animals” and has said they are less than human.
He said the influx of migrants has overwhelmed many communities and made “migrant crime” a new category of criminal activity.
Trump has said he wants to remove undocumented migrants who have committed crimes.
He also said he favors removing all undocumented migrants but would allow many back into the United States after they undergo a vetting process.
“We want people to come into our country,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview on Thursday, but his administration has “no choice” but to carry out mass deportations.
He said there is no price tag on the cost to deport migrants who have not been vetted or who have committed crimes and said the election results “mandate” deportations as “common sense.”
“When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries and now they’re going back to those countries because they’re not staying here,” Trump said, “there is no price tag.”
Trump told NBC his message on immigration is part of the reason he won the presidential election with a majority of votes.
“They want to have borders and they like people coming in,” Trump said, “but they have to come in with love for the country. They have to come in legally.”