President-elect Donald Trump has promised to declare illegal immigration a national emergency on the first day of his new presidential administration.
This declaration grants a president emergency powers that Trump says will allow him to use the military to carry out mass deportations.
Powers that Trump might summon are not widely understood, but there are legal barriers that could hold him in check.
A national emergency declaration certainly does give a president additional powers, but these powers are not absolute. However, Trump and his acolytes have gone on the record claiming he will try to do things that will push these powers beyond what the law has allowed in the past.
What those limits are—and what presidential national emergencies allow him to do— particularly in Texas—is being examined. Many expect there will be legal battles as Trump will seek to make good on his promise of mass deportations.
I spoke with National expert on presidential powers Elizabeth Goitein about this. At the Brennan Center for Justice, she has just published “How Trump Could Deploy the Military for Mass Deportation” and breaks down the laws the president-elect could use to facilitate mass deportations.
They include the Insurrection Act and the Alien Enemies Act. And she points out where the deployment of the military in mass deportations might run afoul and be vulnerable to legal challenges.
Elizabeth Goitein is senior director of the liberty and national security program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
