(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump plans to lean heavily on local law enforcement in his efforts to conduct mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally should he return to the White House.
Speaking exclusively to NewsNation last week, Trump detailed why he would utilize the expertise of local authorities.
“They know them very well. They know their names. They know their middle names. They know everything about them,” Trump said of those who entered the country illegally.
“They know the good ones, the bad ones. They know everything about them, and they’re going to get them, and they’re going to get them out,” he added.
Local law enforcement who spoke to NewsNation embraced the former president’s plan. However, there are questions as to how it can be pulled off with limited resources.
“It will be a very big and monumental task to cooperate with the federal government and to ensure our community that we aren’t just going rounding up persons of color and deporting them,” Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County, California, told NewsNation.
“These are criminals that we are arresting for victimizing us, and we are making sure they go back to the country where they belong,” Bianco added.
Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County, Arizona, told NewsNation that collaboration with the federal government is necessary to ensure a successful operation.
“We need some kind of court documents for the federal government,” Dannels said. “Say, ‘Hey, this person is possibly in your county. Can you find them?’
“And I don’t know everybody in my county, but I guarantee you those that come, whether it’s on a traffic stop or speed or traffic violation, we will encounter any other person has wanted this country. Time is our friend. Time is their enemy.”
Last week, Trump exclusively told NewsNation he would revoke the Temporary Protected Status for Haitian migrants living in Springfield, Ohio, and ensure their return to Haiti.