Trump Demands a $350B Deportation Machine—Local Leaders Say Not on Their Watch
After Trump glorified Eisenhower’s despicable 1954 mass deportation campaign, local lawmakers forcefully condemned and rejected his push to destabilize their communities
Donald Trump’s speech before Congress last week was exactly what we expected: unhinged, dangerous, and a declaration of war on immigrants and democracy itself. He glorified one of the darkest stains in U.S. history—Eisenhower’s inhumane 1954 mass deportation campaign—as a “record” to break. He demanded $350 billion from Congress to turn his vision into reality, building the largest deportation force in modern history.
This is not hypothetical. Trump’s mass deportation machine is already working around the clock. Family detention has restarted, reviving policies that traumatized children in his first term. His administration is considering war profiteer Erik Prince’s plan for deportation camps, complete with private militias. And his national immigrant registration requirement represents an unprecedented pipeline to deportation, targeting families who have lived and worked in the U.S. for decades in a misguided throwback to failed post-9/11 policies.
Trump wants to convince the public that this is about “law and order.” It’s not. It’s about fear, control, and a direct assault on civil rights. His $350 billion request would gut resources for working families—slashing Medicaid, food assistance, and education—while funneling billions into militarized raids and surveillance of families. His allies in Congress are working to strip funding from cities that refuse to comply, forcing local leaders into becoming enforcers of his mass deportation agenda.
But this past week, Democratic mayors and other local lawmakers fought back.
Local Leaders Defend Their Cities Against Trump’s Attacks
During a House Oversight Committee hearing, Democratic mayors made it clear: immigrants are vital to their communities, and Trump’s efforts to criminalize them are nothing more than a political stunt.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston shut down Republican lies, proving that his city remains one of the safest in the nation—because of immigrants, not despite them. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu directly called out Republican fearmongering, making it clear that immigrants strengthen communities, and Trump’s policies do nothing but spread division and harm.
“We are the safest major city in America not in spite of our immigrants, but because of them.” — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
During a press call, local elected officials, including a chorus of local prosecutors, forcefully condemned Republicans’ HR. 32, “No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities,” a bill that would strip critical funding from communities while forcing them to comply with Trump’s mass deportation agenda. “No one should have to choose between keeping their community safe and handing their neighbors over to Trump’s deportation machine,” said Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo.
Norfolk’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ramin Fatehi added that HR. 32 would erode trust in the criminal justice system for immigrant communities, “I cannot overemphasize how dangerous this pending legislation is to public safety.”
Republican lawmakers, desperate to frame immigrant-friendly policies as dangerous, pushed false claims about crime. But the facts are clear: crime rates have gone down in major cities, and immigrants—both documented and undocumented—commit crimes at significantly lower rates than U.S.-born citizens.
Trump’s plan isn’t about safety. It’s about punishing immigrant families and defunding cities to justify mass deportations. While his administration is working to cut resources for local governments, these mayors are showing what true leadership looks like—standing up for their communities and refusing to cave to political blackmail.
Trump’s Mass Deportation Agenda Is an Authoritarian Test
Immigration and human rights experts this week also sounded the alarm on Trump’s immigration agenda, calling it a deliberate authoritarian escalation. His plan isn’t just about immigrants—it’s about expanding executive power and silencing opposition.
Anthony Enriquez, VP of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at RFK Human Rights:
“National registration attacks the rights of all Americans to freedom from unwanted surveillance, police harassment, and discrimination based on the color of your skin or the language you speak. It coerces reporting of sensitive and personally identifiable information and targets people who police think don’t look or sound American ‘enough.’ Whether citizen or immigrant, an attack on anyone’s human rights is an attack on everyone’s human rights.”
Trump’s administration is weaponizing government agencies to monitor critics, track immigrants, and demand access to private financial data. If left unchecked, this mass surveillance won’t stop with immigrants—it will be used to target political opponents, activists, and anyone who challenges his agenda.
Trump’s war on immigrants is a test: will we allow a president to normalize government overreach, racial profiling, and unchecked militarization?
The Fight Continues
Trump’s speech was a warning, but it was also a rallying cry. His attacks on immigrants and local communities are escalating, but so is the resistance. The American people have seen this before—we can’t let mass cruelty and fear become the new normal.
Congress must reject Trump’s $350 billion request. Lawmakers cannot give him the funding to carry out mass deportations. They must stand up for immigrant families, local governments, and working people instead of playing into dangerous fearmongering.
Trump’s goal is clear: to remake America into a country where entire communities live in fear. But the fight isn’t over. It’s only just beginning.