Trump says he will use the Army for deportations to the full extent of the law

President-elect Donald Trump will use the US military to the full extent of the law to support his mass deportation campaign, he told TIME magazine in an interview published Thursday, as part of his plan to use troops to try to expel a record number of immigrants who are illegally in the United States.

Asked about a U.S. law that generally prevents the use of the military in domestic law enforcement, Trump said illegal immigration amounted to an invasion that must be stopped.

“I consider it an invasion of our country,” Trump told TIME during an interview in which he was named “Person of the Year.” “We will get the National Guard and we will go as far as I am allowed, according to the laws of our country,” he added.

Trump, a Republican, won re-election in November by portraying migrants as dangerous criminals and promising a broad crackdown on legal and illegal immigration, including mass deportations.

He plans to draw resources from across the federal government to the deportation effort and declare a national emergency to unlock funds for law enforcement, Reuters reported in November.

Both Republican and Democratic administrations have used National Guard troops to assist the U.S. Border Patrol on the border with Mexico, but they have not been used for immigration detentions.

The future Trump administration plans to use the military in a similar support role for the deportation effort, incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan told Fox News on Sunday.

“We would like (the Department of Defense) to help us in many areas, in transportation and infrastructure construction, intelligence and targeting,” Homan said. “But a sworn immigration officer with immigration authority will make those arrests.”

Trump did not rule out building new detention centers to house immigrants awaiting deportation, but said his administration would aim to deport them quickly, limiting the need for camps or other sites.

“I don’t want them sitting in camps for the next 20 years. I want them out, and countries have to take them back,” Trump said.

Trump said Sunday in an interview with NBCNews that his goal is to deport all immigrants who are illegally in the United States during his four years in office, a massive undertaking that would affect millions of families and harm businesses that depend on those workers, including agriculture.

There were an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States as of January 2022, according to a Department of Homeland Security report, a number that has likely increased in recent years.

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