A deal with the devil

I doubt you’ll find many Americans — regardless of political affiliation — who oppose deporting illegal aliens with violent criminal records or ties to gangs like MS-13. Most people would agree that individuals with violent records or gang ties should never have been allowed into the country in the first place.

I know some people believe that President Donald Trump was only going to deport criminal aliens. Some of my MAGA friends argue that anyone who enters the U.S. illegally is, by definition, a criminal. But when people refer to 'criminal aliens,' they usually mean those with violent records or gang affiliations. Trump has said repeatedly that he would prioritize deporting criminal aliens, the worst of the worst. But the plan was never to stop there.

On Dec. 8, 2024, on NBC’s Meet the Press, Kristen Welker asked then-president-elect Trump:

Is it your plan to deport everyone who is here illegally over the next four years?

Trump responded:

I think you have to do it, it’s a very tough thing to do …

So, even though criminal aliens are the priority, he has always planned to deport all illegal aliens. Apparently, we have deported all the bad guys because now, according to the data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as of Jun 29, 71% of detainees had no criminal convictions.

Border Czar, Tom Homan said:

People need to understand ICE officers and Border Patrol don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them …

Homan asserted that the standard was not probable cause, but rather reasonable suspicion, and stated that officers could consider factors such as location, occupation, or physical appearance.

I am a U.S. citizen, and I was born in Iowa. Since my mother was from Guam, and my father was from Jamaica. I have black hair and brown skin. I am also a fisherman, and I often find myself fishing late at night below a dam with a bunch of Hispanic guys. How do I know they are Hispanic? Because when we talk, most of them only speak Spanish. By Homan’s standard ICE could briefly detain, a bunch of brown skinned guys, hanging out by the river. I probably need to be more careful when I go fishing. If ICE detained me some night, I would find it difficult to prove my citizenship. The gold star on my Real ID license doesn’t prove citizenship — only that I had some legal status when it was issued. In a recent column Illegal aliens have rights too I argued that under Article I of the Constitution, even illegal aliens had the right of habeas corpus — the right to challenge their detainment. On social media, several people argued that illegal aliens have no rights under the U.S. Constitution. If they are right, and Homan is right, and I was briefly detained by ICE, if I could not prove my citizenship to the officer who picked me up, I could end up in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ awaiting deportation.

There’s a practical flaw in Trump’s plan to deport every illegal immigrant: where will they go? In at least one case, the administration struck a deal with South Sudan — a country with no previous connection to the deportees — to accept them.

But there’s a catch. The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory for South Sudan, citing armed conflict, violent crime, and kidnapping. South Sudan is essentially a war zone. The advisory helpfully suggests that travelers leave DNA samples, discuss funeral arrangements with loved ones, and designate a family member to negotiate in case of hostage-taking. I sincerely hope the eight deportees sent there had a chance to do all that.

Even assuming a low estimate of 10 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., South Sudan can’t take them all. But maybe there’s an opportunity here. Since Trump prides himself on making deals, perhaps he could strike one with Hamas to take U.S. deportees in Gaza. Who knows? Maybe that’s the deal that brings peace to the Middle East and wins him the Nobel Peace Prize.

David Chung is a Gazette editorial fellow. david.chung@thegazette.com