On Thursday, Donald Trump described his deportation push as a “military operation,” as reported by The Hill. His comments come after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed new deportation plans that will enforce stricter policies to deal with the process more quickly and in greater numbers.
Trump has been looking to address undocumented immigrants as quickly as possible, and it appears he’s keeping that promise. Numerous ICE raids have been occurring to help with deportation, and the new plans outlined by DHS show that Trump’s moving beyond Obama’s focus on deporting criminals. Trump has praised DHS Secretary John Kelly for his work on the matter but seems to want to take it to the next level. Despite the fact that the military is not part of deportation efforts, Trump still described it that way while speaking with manufacturing CEOs on Thursday:
“You see what’s happening at the border, all of the sudden for the first time, we’re getting gang members out, we’re getting drug lords out, we’re getting really bad dudes out of this country. And at a rate that nobody’s ever seen before, and they’re the bad ones, and it’s a military operation because that has been allowed to come into our country. And you see gang violence that you’ve read about like never before, all of the things, much of that is people that are here illegally. And they’re rough and they’re tough but they’re not tough like our people.”
His military namedropping is odd, especially after the White House pushed back on a report that Trump wished to employ the National Guard with deportation efforts. Politico also reminds everyone that Trump’s effort to blame Mexico for increased gang violence in the United States is an unfounded one.