Republican Rand Paul opposes Trump talk of using military in deportations [View all]

Source: Reuters

Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul voiced opposition on Sunday to the idea of using the military to carry out mass deportations of people living in the country illegally after President-elect Donald Trump signaled last week that he plans to do so.

"You don't do it with the Army because it's illegal," Paul said on CBS's "Face the Nation" program. "If they send the Army into New York and you have 10,000 troops marching carrying semi-automatic weapons, I think it's a terrible image, and I will oppose that."

A 19th century U.S. law prohibits federal troops from being used in domestic law enforcement except when authorized by Congress.

Paul, at times a maverick within his party, noted that he supports the idea of deporting people living in the United States illegally who have criminal records, but said that law enforcement authorities are better equipped than the military to carry out that role and to heed the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. There is a "distrust of putting the Army into our streets" among Americans, Paul said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-rand-paul-opposes-trump-talk-using-military-deportations-2024-11-24/

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Yet when asked if this meant he'd oppose Kristi Noem's nomination for Homeland Security he waffled by just saying "I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities."