Trump plans to declare emergency, use military for mass deportations

(FOX 9) - In a reply on his Truth Social platform Monday, President-elect Donald Trump indicated that he planned to use an emergency declaration and the military to carry out mass deportations, a move that experts said would likely encounter legal challenges.

The announcement raises unanswered questions about whether Trump could use the military for law enforcement and whether governors have any legal options to stop him.

"Use of the military in this way is something that’s, to some degree, unprecedented," said Ana Pottratz Acosta, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul.

Stephen Miller, Trump’s top immigration adviser and incoming White House deputy chief of staff, has said that the military would be used to build detention centers.

There are about 81,000 undocumented immigrants in Minnesota, about half of whom have pending cases in immigration court.

Pottratz Acosta said those people could end up waiting for their court date while in custody.

"People who have a pending case in court – you have a right to a full hearing," she said. "The only thing that potentially would be changed is that they might try to arrest or detain people while their removal proceedings are pending."

The government can remove undocumented immigrants without due process but only if they have been in the country for two weeks or fewer, Pottratz Acosta said. While that process – called expedited removal – is currently only used for undocumented immigrants captured within 100 miles of the border, it could be expanded to encompass the entire country, she said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz did not have a comment on Trump’s announcement, his spokesperson said.