Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came out against Donald Trump’s plan to use the military to carry out mass deportation of undocumented immigrants when he returns to office.
“I’m not in favor of sending the Army in uniforms into our cities to collect people,” Paul told Newsmax host Rob Schmitt on Tuesday. “I think it’s a terrible image and that’s not what we use our military for, we never have and it’s actually been illegal for over 100 years to bring the Army into our cities.”
He continued: “Our military are trained to shoot the enemy. They’re not trained to get a warrant to do what they’re doing…..So while I’m all for ‘Remain in Mexico,’ I will not support an emergency to put the army into our cities. I think that’s a huge mistake.”
Paul said he thought local police and other domestic law enforcement should be the ones to carry out Trump’s plan, and expressed concern about how it would look like for “the housekeeper who’s been here 30 years” to get arrested by a uniformed service member.
On Monday, Trump confirmed that he is going to declare a national emergency and use the US military to carry out his mass deportation policy.
Trump’s spokesperson and incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said that the next administration would “marshal every federal and state power necessary” to implement the program.
Paul said he does not support declaring a national emergency, adding that such moves “they smack of martial rule. They smack of of no congressional approval. They smack of no checks and balances.”
During the first Trump presidency, Paul was one of 11 Republican senators who voted against a proposed national emergency declaration to secure funds for his border wall, saying the move was illegal and needed Congressional approval.
