In a rare public break with the president-elect, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has expressed strong opposition to Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to utilize the US military to round up and deport millions of undocumented immigrants upon returning to the White House. While Paul remains aligned with Trump’s overall goal of expelling large numbers of immigrants from the country, the libertarian-leaning lawmaker argues that such an undertaking is better suited for law enforcement agencies rather than the armed forces.
Trump’s mass deportation plans, which could potentially impact families with US citizen children, have drawn widespread condemnation from immigrant advocates, civil rights organizations, and Democratic leaders who warn of the cruelty and economic damage such an operation would inflict. But dissent from within Trump’s own party has been muted – until now.
Paul: Military deportations would be “terrible image”
Appearing on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Paul was pressed on how federal immigration authorities, who currently lack the manpower and detention capacity to apprehend millions, would realistically carry out the ex-president’s ambitious deportation agenda. The Kentucky senator expressed unease at the notion of “10,000 troops marching [into cities] carrying semi-automatic weapons,” calling such optics a “terrible image” for the country.
“I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. I think it’s a terrible image,
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
Paul stopped short of pledging to vote against confirming Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, if she were to endorse militarized deportations. But his forceful rejection of the concept marks a rare point of GOP friction with Trump’s incendiary immigration stances.
Trump confirms military deportation plans
For his part, Trump has doubled down on the proposal. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president-to-be shared a message from Tom Fitton, president of the conservative activist group Judicial Watch, which stated the incoming administration is “prepared to declare a national emergency” in order to “use military assets” to expedite mass deportations – to which Trump resolutely replied “TRUE!!!”
Immigration hardliners argue that such extreme measures are necessary to restore order and security to the nation’s borders. But critics across the political spectrum warn that deploying armed troops to rout whole communities would represent an authoritarian escalation by a president with a clear authoritarian streak.
Republicans unready to challenge Trump
While Rand Paul’s rebuke of Trump’s latest immigration provocation may hearten those alarmed by the president-elect’s militaristic and anti-democratic impulses, few of his fellow Republicans appear willing to confront the Trumpist lurch. The Kentucky senator’s lonely voice of opposition underscores the extent to which the party remains captive to the polarizing ex-president, impeding the sort of robust intra-GOP resistance required to check Trump’s worst excesses.
With the specter of heavily armed soldiers persuing terrified immigrant families through major American cities now squarely on the table, many wonder if Trump’s second term will hasten the unraveling of constitutional safeguards and civil liberties. The relative GOP silence in response – with figures like Rand Paul as the exceptions that prove the rule – offers scant reassurance.
