During the 2024 campaign, then-candidate Trump promised, if elected, to deport the huge influx of illegal immigrants who surged into the United States during the Biden years. This number is in the millions, as nearly everyone agrees, but no one agrees on the approximation figure. Mr. Trump promised to start the effort by deporting the dangerous criminals among them, including members of alien gangs that are sworn to violence and criminality. This is a part of Trump’s effort to “Make America Safe Again.”

But just how does a nation physically deport millions of individuals who are unwilling to self-deport? What kind of federal police force is necessary? Surely, this is the job of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and to a much lesser extent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But both of these agencies have limited personnel, and diverting many of them from their border posts to conduct roundups, arrests, and deportations from the interior of the country, is not really feasible without further weakening the borders. So where are the personnel who will do this job?

Democrat Governors and Mayors in so-called “Sanctuary” states and cities were given notice by Trump’s Department of Justice that they if they impede federal immigration enforcement they will be arrested and prosecuted.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a memorandum to all department employees that under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, state and local officials must not obstruct federal immigration enforcement. Should they impede, obstruct, or otherwise fail to comply with federal immigration enforcement activities, they will be charged.