Banks Quoted in ABC News Article on Trump’s Proposed Mass Deportation Program

November 4, 2024

ABC News

William C. Banks

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy & Law

Federal

U.S. Immigration

U.S. National Security

United States

ABC News

William C. Banks

Former President Donald Trump has vowed, if he's elected, to conduct a large-scale deportation operation that some immigration and military experts agree is theoretically possible but also problematic, and could cost tens—even hundreds—of billions a year.

Trump has promised to mobilize and federalize National Guard units to help with the deportation effort, which would likely be a first for the military.

Under U.S. law, military units are barred from engaging in domestic law enforcement, although Trump has proposed invoking the Insurrection Act, a sweeping law, that could give him broader powers to direct National Guard units as he sees fit.

“We don't like uniform military in our domestic affairs at all,” says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. “The default is always have the civilians do it. The cops, the state police, the city police, the sheriffs,” he says.

Using the military for domestic law enforcement would be a fundamental shift, one which Banks argues too few Americans have considered or grappled with. “It would turn our whole society upside down…all these arguments about him being an autocrat or dictator, it is not a stretch,” he says.

Read more in the ABC News article, “Trump wants a mass deportation program. How much could it cost?”