Christian Pipe Smokers

Wosbald wrote: ↑16 Sep 2024, 11:02 +JMJ+

In your opinion, Your Holiness, are there circumstances in which it is morally permissible to vote for a candidate who is in favor of abortion?

In political morality, it is generally said that not voting is ugly, it's not good. One must vote. And one must choose the lesser evil. Which is the lesser evil? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know; each person must think and decide according to their own conscience.

Catholic officials in Ohio bemoan harmful rhetoric against state's immigrants

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Sept 16, 2024 — Comments by former President Donald Trump about immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, insulted Haitians and those living in Springfield dealing with what has become a difficult situation, said a local Catholic official.

"The Springfield community, the vast majority of migrants I've known, have been trying to make the situation work out for everyone," said Tony Stieritz, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio.

Trump's remarks, during the Sept. 10 debate, offered no proof, and anyone in a position to know, including the Springfield city manager, said they were pure fabrication. Television comics used the remarks as fodder and some of the estimated 67 million viewers of the debate might have thought they had stumbled upon a "Simpsons" episode, the comic cartoon set in a fictional Springfield.

But for those ministering to Haitian migrants in the Ohio city of about 60,000 there was no humor.

Two days after the debate, Springfield City Hall was closed due to bomb threats. At least two city schools were also evacuated and one school closed for the same reason. School officials at Springfield's Catholic Central School dismissed students on the morning of Sept. 13 citing a need for caution and two local hospitals — Kettering Health Springfield and Mercy Health Springfield Regional Medical Center — were forced into lockdown due to bomb threats Sept. 14.

Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, a part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, has assisted other agencies in helping Haitians in Springfield. The town is a Rust Belt industrial city, once with a population of about 80,000 which has declined in recent decades. An estimated 15,000 Haitians have arrived in recent years, many of them with protected status, granted because they are fleeing violence in their homeland. Many are legally entitled to work.

Catholic Charities has provided job placement services, English classes and food assistance, helping to aid the influx to the small city but more federal assistance is needed, said Stieritz.

"The federal government had no plan," Stieritz told the National Catholic Reporter. The Haitian population grew over the past five years due to the informal network of Haitian refugees across the U.S. Springfield was attractive because it offered job opportunities as factory work has picked up in the region and because the area features relatively low rents.

[…]

Stieritz emphasized the cooperation that Springfielders, particularly those in the Catholic community, have offered Haitian immigrants. Mass is offered in Creole at St. Raphael's Church, celebrated with the help of a Haitian priest who drives in from Columbus, about an hour's drive, each weekend. He also cited the volunteer work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

The spate of publicity "has filled me with a lot of sorrow," said Jillian Foster, regional director of Catholic Social Action for the archdiocese. She is a native of Ohio who served three-and-a half years as a Maryknoll lay missionary in Haiti, where she worked in a nursing home, tree nursery and served in child protection, supporting children in poverty who are sent out of their homes to become servants for wealthier Haitians, a system ripe with exploitation.

In Haiti, she saw up close the pressures of an unstable government and gang violence which makes it impossible for those in the diaspora in the United States to return. Kidnappings and killings are too common, she said, and most Haitians have been directly victimized by the violence or know someone who has.

She worries that Haitians in Springfield might again be feeling fear. "They want to learn and to work," she said. "But a lot might be hesitant to leave their homes."

Stieritz said the publicity generated by Trump's rhetoric has aggravated the situation.

"A lot of hatred has been generated when the issue has been thrown into the political sphere. None of it reflects the values of our faith," he said.

The city's mayor, Rob Rue, pleaded with political candidates Sept. 12 to "pay attention to what their words are doing to cities like ours," adding: "We need help, not hate."

Similarly, Foster noted that the spotlight on Springfield largely fails to credit recent Haitian immigrants and longtime Springfield residents who want to live peacefully together.

"I know there are a lot of good people in the Haitian community and in Springfield. I hope people see that. We're the Catholic Church. We want to embrace everyone in our community," she said.

Catholic bishop defends immigrants after Trump falsely claims Haitians in Ohio are ‘eating pets’

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Sept 12, 2024 — Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wenski could only marvel in amusement at the stories he has heard recirculated by former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. But he was eager to speak more seriously about a moral call to hospitality for newcomers to U.S. shores.

Like generations of immigrants who have come before them, including many of the ancestors of some contemporary U.S. Catholics who now seem to consistently deplore new immigrant arrivals, Haitian immigrants simply seek to escape economically and socially desperate conditions in their homeland, he said.

“This is the story of America,” Archbishop Wenski said. “Haitians have come to work; they’ve come to succeed. They’ll go where the jobs are.”

And in the end, the archbishop is certain the communities where they land will be better off for it — just like Miami where the grandchildren of Haitian immigrants of the past are heading to college or accepting positions of civic and professional responsibility that help South Florida thrive.

For more than five decades, his archdiocese has hosted a significant Haitian population. Now many newly arriving Haitians, he said, are quickly relocating to small cities like Springfield and Indianapolis, Ind., in search of jobs and affordable housing.

[…]

Springfield’s Haitian community found itself in an unexpected and no doubt unwelcome national spotlight this week when both members of the G.O.P. ticket — Mr. Vance on the campaign trail and Mr. Trump during his debate with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris — repeated stories gleaned from unverified reports on social media. The national leaders alleged that individuals within the city’s growing Haitian community were, as the former president put it during the debate on Sept.10, “eating cats; they’re eating dogs … they’re eating pets.”

[…]

Tony Stieritz, the chief executive of Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, was understandably reluctant to comment on the president’s assertions, but the wild stories and the sudden national attention have had an impact. Like other Catholic Charities agencies that work with migrant communities, he said, his office has been under attack by phone, email and over social media by angry commentators accusing Catholic Charities of contributing to — even creating — the crisis in Springfield by moving the Haitian migrant community there.

Mr. Stieritz acknowledged that refugee resettlement is indeed among the services his Catholic Charities office offers in Cincinnati, but he emphasized that southwestern Ohio Catholic Charities has had no role in resettling Haitian immigrants in Springfield, describing that as an “organic” process that occurred after the city became known by word of mouth within the Haitian community as a place where jobs and affordable housing could be found.

In fact, his office has only recently become involved with municipal and civic actors in Springfield, he said, providing translation services and other minor assistance to the growing Haitian community.

The folks attacking the southwestern Ohio agency may be blindly associating it with immigrant resettlement programs sponsored by other Catholic Charities offices around the country. Many have similarly come under attack based on erroneous reporting and misinformation campaigns on social media. Catholic Charities programs along the border have also been targeted by the Texas attorney general and a small group of congressional Republicans because of their work assisting migrants and asylum applicants.

Mr. Stieritz has been alarmed to see the Springfield Haitian community transformed into a political talking point and hopes to see more of the “level headed” leadership he believes was exhibited at a press conference on Sept. 11 convened by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. The governor made clear his support of a temporary protected status declaration by the Biden administration that has allowed thousands of Haitian immigrants to legally remain in the United States. But he demanded more support from the federal government to assist communities like Springfield that abruptly found themselves confronting an array of additional civic demands because of new immigrant arrivals.

[…]

In an especially poignant moment this week, Aiden’s father, Nathan Clark, standing with his wife, Danielle, at a packed municipal meeting in Springfield, demanded that politicians and social media personalities cease exploiting his family’s tragedy.

“I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old white man,” he said. “I bet you never thought anyone would say something so blunt, but if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone. The last thing that we need is to have the worst day of our lives violently and constantly shoved in our faces, but even that’s not good enough for them. They take it one step further. They make it seem that our wonderful Aiden appreciates your hate, that we should follow their hate.”

Archbishop Wenski speculates that the Haitian community of Springfield has become “collateral damage” to the “border policy or lack of the border policy” of the Biden administration. In grappling with record border arrivals last year, numbers that have since diminished dramatically, the administration attempted to create more opportunities for regular channels of legal immigration from especially dysfunctional nations in the hemisphere, including Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have now been protected from deportation through temporary protected status and allowed into the United States legally under humanitarian parole and other programs while new arrivals pursue asylum claims.

[…]

Archbishop Wenski, for his part, hopes contemporary U.S. Catholics, now secure in their place in American society, would do more to counter xenophobic tensions that are stoked for political gain, reminding them they were once part of an outsider class of “Irish Catholics, Italian Catholics, Polish Catholics” themselves. “We all suffered discrimination because we were outsiders. You would think that we would have a better memory about that and take that into account for the newcomers because we were once newcomers ourselves.”

Since the 19th century’s “know nothings,” “anti-immigrant sentiment has always been tied to anti-Catholicism in this country,” Archbishop Wenski said, “and those ties have not been severed yet.”

How does that explain the attitude and public comments of a Catholic convert like Mr. Vance? “Well, anyone can call themselves a practicing Catholic,” Archbishop Wenski said, “but we all have to practice until we get it right.”

Wosbald wrote: ↑19 Sep 2024, 12:04 +JMJ+

Source: America
Link: americamagazine DOT org/politics-society/2024/09/12/haitian-immigrants-springfield-trump-248783

Catholic bishop defends immigrants after Trump falsely claims Haitians in Ohio are ‘eating pets’

Ohio bishops call on people to treat Haitian migrants with ‘respect and dignity’

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NEW YORK — After weeks of demonization of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, the state’s Catholic bishops have together called for people to treat the migrants with respect and dignity, and for people to ignore the “unfounded gossip” that circulates online.

Springfield, a blue-collar city of about 50,000 people, has become a political football of late after viral social media claims that Haitian migrants were eating people’s pets. Former President Donald Trump latched onto the rumors in his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris – as has his running mate J.D. Vance thereafter – to bemoan the Biden administration’s immigration record.

The situation has since gotten uglier.

City schools have received an excess of 30 bomb threats, which have all been determined to be hoaxes, but still prompted evacuations and created fear. Law enforcement is now sweeping all district school buildings before the school day begins. The city also canceled its annual CultureFest, scheduled for Sept. 27, because of security concerns.

“As the residents of Springfield, Ohio, struggle with violent threats and life disruptions fueled by unfettered social media posts, we exhort the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill not to perpetuate ill will toward anyone involved based on unfounded gossip,” the Ohio Catholic bishops said in a September 19 statement. “Instead, we ask for prayers and support for all the people of Springfield as they integrate their new Haitian neighbors and build a better future together.”

[…]

The Ohio bishops acknowledged that the influx of migrants to Springfield has not only led to safety concerns but caused a strain on the city’s resources. They applauded the community groups working to “advance the flourishing of Springfield, given the need to integrate newcomers into the social fabric.”

Further, the bishops called on people to treat the migrants with respect and dignity.

“Like all people, these Haitians should be afforded the respect and dignity that are theirs by right and allowed the ability to contribute to the common good,” the bishops said.

The statement is signed by 10 Ohio Catholic bishops: Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, Bishop Edward Lohse of Steubenville, Bishop David Donnar of Youngstown, Bishop Edward Malesic and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost of Cleveland, Bishop John Michael Botean of the St. George Byzantine Catholic Diocese, Bishop Robert Pipta of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Bishop Bohdan Danylo of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, and Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus.

That statement was published ahead of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees that the Church observes annually on the last Sunday of September. This year, the day falls on Sept. 29. In a separate Sept. 19 statement ahead of the day Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, the U.S. Bishops’ Conference Migration Committee Chair, called on people to respond to migrants with compassion.

“Pope Francis calls for solidarity with migrants, reminding us that their journeys mirror the biblical Exodus, with God as their guide and companion,” Seitz said. “He emphasizes that every encounter with migrants is an encounter with Christ, urging us to respond with compassion, recognizing their struggles as a reflection of our shared journey toward the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The Ohio bishops also had a message for the nation. They decried the partisanship and ideology that have divided the nation, and called on people to “turn to God and ask for eyes to see the infinite dignity of every person. They also noted that throughout history Catholic immigrants have come to the United States “seeking freedom to worship and raise their families.”

“Today, we witness newcomers to our dioceses who have escaped extreme violence and poverty and are seeking work to support themselves and their families,” the bishops said. “Some are Catholic, some are not, but all are welcome in our parishes, and all are individuals loved by God.”

Ohio’s episcopal leaders also argued that dialogue about immigration without “scapegoating groups of people for societal issues beyond their control” is possible if people remain true to their principles.

“The Catholic Church continues to pray and work in places of violence and economic despair so that individuals and families do not have to flee their homeland,” the Ohio bishops concluded. “In the meantime, let us reject a mindset of judging who belongs to our community and put on the mind of Christ to understand that God walks with all his people, especially those in need.”

Jews and Catholics warn against Trump's latest loyalty test for religious voters

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Sept 26, 2024 — Former President Donald Trump recently reissued his loyalty test to religious Americans, declaring that he can best protect their freedoms while preemptively blaming members of certain faiths should he lose the presidential election in November.

Jews and Catholics can vote for him and ace the test, but those who don’t, he says, “need their head examined.” If he loses, Trump added, "Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss.”

Among the Jewish leaders appalled at Trump’s remarks was Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism — an umbrella group for more than 800 Reform synagogues in North America.

“Your words preemptively blaming Jews for your potential election loss is of a piece with millennia of antisemitic lies about Jewish power,” Jacobs said in a social media post. “It puts a target on American Jews. And it makes you an ally not to our vulnerable community but to those who wish us harm. Stop.”

Trump's speeches for years have hewed to divisive “us” versus “them” messaging, but tying those themes to specific religious Americans who oppose him is out of line and even dangerous, according to rhetoric experts, religious leaders and academics.

“Non-Jews shouldn’t express public opinions about what is or isn’t good Judaism and non-Catholics shouldn’t express public opinions about what is or isn’t good Catholicism,” said Steven Millies, a public theology professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

“Not only is it bad form, but it’s also an ignorant waste of oxygen.”

Asked to respond to criticism from Jewish leaders, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt sent statements from herself and several of Trump’s Jewish supporters. The statements didn’t directly address the potential blaming of Jews for a Trump defeat; rather, they depicted Trump as a stronger supporter of Israel than President Joe Biden and Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

[…]

Matthew Boedy, who studies religious rhetoric as a professor at the University of North Georgia, said Trump has adopted spiritual warfare rhetoric, which is commonplace in certain Christian circles.

“Those who gave him that rhetoric saw Satan or evil as the enemy. Now that enemy is anyone — Jew, Christian, Muslim — who stands in his way,” Boedy said via email, calling it dangerous to democracy and religion.

“Trump always makes his religious followers — especially Christians — choose. They have to choose him over pluralism, over morality, over evangelism,” said Boedy, a Protestant.

“If God is already on your side theologically, it’s not a far leap to say he should be on your side politically. That isn’t new to American politics,” Boedy said. “Trump is only making that divide advantageous to him. He’s furthering that which was there, but he is also adding his own weight to it. Making it worse.”

David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Jesuit-run Fordham University, said that in past elections, “for a non-Catholic like Trump to be setting himself up as the savior of Catholics, or Jews for that matter, would have been political insanity.”

“But it’s Trump, and conservatives who would attack a Democrat for such language are cheering for the Republican nominee,” Gibson added in an email. “There are many reasons, the most obvious is that they like Trump more than they heed their own church.”

Gibson also suggested that Trump’s tough stance on immigration, which includes calls for mass deportations, is at odds with Catholic teaching.

“Catholics listening to the increasingly Nativist rhetoric on immigration from Trump and even his running mate, JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, ought to have their hearts examined if they support that,” Gibson said.

[…]

The criticism of Trump's recent remarks came from the center as well as the left of the national Jewish community.

The American Jewish Committee — a prominent advocacy group that strives to broadly represent Jews in the U.S. and abroad — issued a sharply critical statement. It took issue with Trump’s suggestion that if 40% of the U.S. Jewish electorate voted for him, “That means 60% are voting for the enemy.”

“Setting up anyone to say ‘we lost because of the Jews’ is outrageous and dangerous,” the AJC said. “Thousands of years of history have shown that scapegoating Jews can lead to antisemitic hate and violence.”

“Some Jews will vote for President Trump and some will vote for Vice President Harris,” the AJC added. “None of us, by supporting the candidate we choose, is voting for the enemy.’ ”

[…]

Some Jews found a positive twist to Trump’s remarks, as Betsy Frank of Mattituck, New York, conveyed in a letter published Sept. 23 in The New York Times.

“As a proud Jewish woman who believes in Israel’s right to defend itself but supports the United States and everything it stands for even more, I would not vote for Donald Trump for any office,” she wrote. “If he loses the election, I will gladly take the blame.”

Wosbald wrote: ↑30 Sep 2024, 10:08 +JMJ+

Source: Laredo Morning Times
Link: lmtonline DOT com/news/politics/article/jews-and-catholics-warn-against-trump-s-latest-19796641.php

Jews and Catholics warn against Trump's latest loyalty test for religious voters

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Sept 26, 2024 — Former President Donald Trump recently reissued his loyalty test to religious Americans, declaring that he can best protect their freedoms while preemptively blaming members of certain faiths should he lose the presidential election in November.

Jews and Catholics can vote for him and ace the test, but those who don’t, he says, “need their head examined.”

‘Vote no on both’: Arizona Catholics oppose ballot initiatives restricting immigration, expanding abortion

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Sept 24, 2024 — A number of states will vote on expanding or maintaining access to abortion this November, but voters in Arizona will also weigh in on a ballot initiative restricting immigration.

Arizona’s Proposition 314 would make it a state crime to cross the Arizona–Mexico border except through an official port of entry, would empower state and local police to arrest those who cross the border unlawfully, and would allow state judges to order deportations. Proposition 139, called the “Right to Abortion Initiative,” would make abortion a “fundamental right” before “fetal viability.” Currently, abortion is legal in Arizona for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The Arizona Catholic Conference opposes both ballot initiatives. The conference grounds its opposition in Catholic social teaching, which recognizes the inherent dignity of every human person created in the image and likeness of God.

Ron Johnson, the executive director of the conference, believes the language of Proposition 139 is intentionally vague. He fears it could be interpreted to expand access to abortion beyond the limits previously granted by Roe v. Wade.

As written, the proposition broadly defines a “fundamental right to abortion,” conceding few, if any, restrictions. The measure allows for abortion after “fetal viability,” often defined as 22 or 23 weeks of pregnancy, as long as the “treating health care professional” deems it “necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of a pregnant individual.” That language concerns pro-life advocates.

“It’s very likely to undo safety standards that girls and women have,” Mr. Johnson said of Proposition 139. “It won’t require a medical doctor to do abortions. It will likely eliminate any restrictions, like parental consent [and] informed consent, and even allow late-term abortions. So it goes far beyond what most people want.”

[…]

“We’ve got the best message on our side; it’s just we’re being outspent,” Mr. Johnson said, referring to the campaign behind Proposition 139. “We have a culture and a media that’s very much against us. But that doesn’t mean the bishops won’t speak out.”

[…]

[Mayra Rodriguez Villeda, a pro-life advocate who used to work for Planned Parenthood] believes parents, especially in the Latino community in which she works, should be concerned that the ballot measure could remove the parental consent requirement. That said, Ms. Rodriguez met many parents who brought their daughters to get abortions while working at Planned Parenthood. She believes it is not uncommon for minors to receive parental consent for abortions and is concerned about what the measure would mean for underage girls who are impregnated by an adult.

“They don’t want their parents to find out because their boyfriends will wind up in jail,” Ms. Rodriguez said, citing her experience. She added that removing parental consent might also have the effect of protecting sex traffickers and others who have abused minors.

But Ms. Rodriguez is not just concerned about abortion. She works in the immigrant community and reported a growing fear of immigration crackdowns that would result if Proposition 314 is passed. “The doors opened for me as an immigrant, so I cannot support this law. I tell people to vote ‘no’ to both!” she said of the ballot initiatives.

Over the last two decades, the Catholic bishops of Arizona have consistently opposed harsh immigration restrictions, Mr. Johnson said. And in 2022, they supported a ballot initiative that granted in-state tuition at Arizona universities for undocumented immigrants.

“We need comprehensive immigration reform,” Mr. Johnson said. The current system is “just a disaster. People want to do something, but [Proposition 314] is definitely the wrong thing.”

Kevin Appleby of the Center of Migration Studies in New York suspects that, if the immigration enforcement measure does pass, it will be struck down in court because it “goes beyond the purview of the state government.” The federal government, he said, is responsible for setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws. A federal judge recently blocked a similar law in Iowa.

“It will probably score political points and it keeps the issue out front, with the hopes of forcing the federal government to do something,” Mr. Appleby said. “But I think in the long run, it won’t make that much of a difference in terms of stemming the people coming in. The forces that are driving them are stronger than any barriers that we put up to prevent them from coming.”

An effective reform to the immigration system must come from Congress, he said. “We need to create a system that’s more workable, that provides legal avenues for people to come and fill jobs in important industries,” Mr. Appleby said. “But [congressional leaders] are happier to use immigration as a political weapon than to actually solve the problem.”

[…]

“We’re going to have labor shortages,” Mr. Appleby said. “It’s in our best interest to allow them to come legally and thus take some pressure off the border. But it’s become so polarized that it’s hard to create space for compromise.”

Some kind of compromise is urgently necessary, according to Eileen McKenzie, F.S.P.A., of the Kino Border Initiative. The binational Catholic ministry — based on the U.S.–Mexico border, with offices in Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora — offers humanitarian assistance to migrants in Mexico and advocates for a humane and just immigration reform in the United States.

“They’re already fleeing from very fearful situations,” Sister McKenzie said of asylum seekers, who, she adds, are often fleeing together with their families. “And then for those who are going to be coming into Arizona, many to be reunited with family members, [Proposition 314] just creates another fearful environment.”

Sister McKenzie noted that families who are of “mixed status,” meaning some members are undocumented and others are legal residents or citizens, would be vulnerable if Proposition 314 passes.

President Biden’s executive action this summer effectively shut down asylum claims at the border except at official ports of entry, she said. Sister McKenzie estimates that, on average, asylum seekers wait eight to 10 months in Mexico before federal agents will hear their asylum claim. They must reapply every day.

“They’re kind of stuck in Nogales,” she said, explaining that the city’s port of entry is the only location on the Arizona border where migrants can seek asylum. There are only 200 appointments a day, and migrants often take short-term jobs when they can find them to pay rent.

“Many times they are waiting in the same country they are fleeing,” Sister McKenzie said, estimating that 70 percent of the migrants who arrive at Kino are from other parts of Mexico and are fleeing violence from the cartel or gang wars.

“They don’t feel free to have a life in Nogales because they know they can be found here,” she said. “There’s increasing desperation, and desperate people do desperate things.”

If they do cross the border and are caught by U.S. Border Patrol, she said, they are deported without having their asylum claims heard.

Sister McKenzie sympathizes with the many Americans who are frustrated with the current immigration system. “But this isn’t the answer,” she said.

Wosbald wrote: ↑01 Oct 2024, 10:53 +JMJ+

Source: America
Link: americamagazine DOT org/politics-society/2024/09/24/arizona-abortion-immigration-proposition-139-314-248866

‘Vote no on both’: Arizona Catholics oppose ballot initiatives restricting immigration, expanding abortion

Trump’s goal of mass deportations fell short. But he has new plans for a second term. [Analysis]

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Donald Trump has long pledged to deport millions of people, but he’s bringing more specifics to his current bid for the White House: invoking wartime powers, relying on like-minded governors and using the military.

Trump’s record as president shows a vast gulf between his ambitions and the legal, fiscal and political realities of mass deportations of people in the United States illegally — 11 million in January 2022, by the Homeland Security Department’s latest estimate. Former President Barack Obama carried out 432,000 deportations in 2013, the highest annual total since records were kept.

Deportations under Trump never topped 350,000. But he and his chief immigration policy architect, Stephen Miller, have offered clues in interviews and rallies of taking a different approach if they are returned to power in November. They could benefit from lessons learned during their of four years in office and, potentially, from more Trump-appointed judges.

“What Trump seems to be contemplating is potentially lawful,” said Joseph Nunn, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s School of Law. “There might not be a lot of legal barriers. It is going to be logistically extraordinarily complicated and difficult. The military is not going to like doing it and they are going to drag their feet as much as they can, but it is possible, so it should be taken seriously.”

The Trump campaign, asked how his pledge would be carried out, said Trump would begin the largest deportation program in U.S. history, without elaborating in detail. Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman, said Trump “would marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers.”

How would Trump overcome inevitable legal challenges?

Trump has said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows the president to deport any noncitizen from a country that the U.S. is at war with.

Texas Gov, Greg Abbott has advanced a theory that illegal immigration amounts to an invasion to justify state enforcement measures, so far without success, but legal scholars say judges may be reluctant to second-guess what a president considers a foreign aggression.

The sweeping Alien Enemies Act authority may sidestep a law that bans the military from civilian law enforcement.

Trump has said he would focus on deploying the National Guard, whose troops can be activated on orders of a governor. Miller says troops under sympathetic Republican governors would send troops to nearby states that refuse to participate.

“The Alabama National Guard is going to arrest illegal aliens in Alabama and the Virginia National Guard in Virginia. And if you’re going to go into an unfriendly state like Maryland, well, there would just be Virginia doing the arrest in Maryland, right, very close, very nearby,” Miller said last year on The Charlie Kirk Show.

[…]

Trump may also contend with rights afforded under immigration law and court rulings that took shape after 1798, including a right to seek asylum that became law in 1980. Under a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, people in the country illegally can’t be detained indefinitely if there is no reasonable chance their countries will take them back. Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and others are either slow to accept their citizens or refuse.

How would Trump pay for this?

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is funded by Congress for 41,500 detention beds this year, raising questions about where Trump would house people before they board deportation flights and how long they could hold them if countries refuse to take them back. Miller floated the idea of “large-scale staging grounds near the border, most likely in Texas.”

[…]

Obama’s deportation numbers were made possible by local police who turned people over to ICE, but many state and local governments have since introduced limits on cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Obama’s presidency also predated a surge of asylum-seekers at the border, which drained limited resources of the Trump and Biden administrations.

How would a mass deportation drive fare politically?

While many support Trump’s plans, mass deportation could tear apart families, exacerbate labor shortages and uproot people with deep ties to their communities. Pew Research Center estimates 70% of households with at least one person in the United States illegally also have someone in the country legally.

Military leaders are likely to resist because it would undercut other priorities and damage morale, Nunn said.

“The military is going see this and say this is not the kind of duty that soldiers signed up for,” he said. “This is getting the military involved in domestic politics in a way the military doesn’t like to do.”

Adam Goodman, associate professor of history and Latin American studies at the University of Illinois, Chicago, who has written about deportations, said a threat of a mass expulsion can have a serious impact even if it isn’t carried out. He thinks it is highly unlikely that Trump can do what he promises but it can strike fear in immigrant communities.

In June 2019, Trump announced ICE would “begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens” the following week. A month later, the agency said it targeted about 2,100 people, resulting in 35 arrests, indicating the president’s plans fell far short but only after they generated widespread concern in immigrant communities.

Trump himself acknowledged the political perils during an interview Sunday with journalist Sharyl Attkisson. “You put one wrong person onto a bus or onto an airplane and your radical left lunatics will try and make it sound like it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened,” Trump said, before repeating his pledge: “But we’re getting the criminals out. And we’re going to do that fast.”