Donald Trump's plan for mass deportations could face a rebellion from Democratic governors across the country.
Trump won the election on Wednesday, recapturing the White House after a campaign where he repeatedly pledged to launch the biggest deportation program in U.S. history.
Trump and his campaign have offered few details about how he would implement the plan to deport the roughly 11 million people estimated to be in the country illegally.
But he has said the plan would involve using local law enforcement agencies and deploying the National Guard, whose troops are activated on the orders of a governor.
Stephen Miller, a Trump adviser who was behind hard-line immigration policies during Trump's first term, has said that National Guard troops from Republican-led states could be deployed into nearby, resistant states governed by Democrats to assist with deportations—a move that would likely face litigation.
The effort would involve cooperation with Republican-led states and use federal funding to pressure "sanctuary" states and jurisdictions to cooperate, Reuters reported, citing six former Trump officials and allies.
Trump "would marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers," Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told The Associated Press. Newsweek has contacted Leavitt for further comment via email.
However, plans for using local law enforcement and the National Guard could face roadblocks in states led by Democrats.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey told MSNBC that she would "absolutely not" allow state police to assist in mass deportations if the Trump administration requested it.
"I do think it's important that we all recognize that there's going to be a lot of pressure on states and state officials, and I can assure you, we're going to work really hard to deliver," she said. "I'm sure there may be litigation ahead."
She added: "The key here is that every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law."
Along with Massachusetts, Trump could also face barriers in the 22 other states in the country led by Democratic governors, including California, New York and New Jersey. Newsweek has contacted all of the country's Democratic governors for comment.
"Several Democratic states and localities have so-called sanctuary policies, meaning that their police will not cooperate with federal immigration officials to turn over immigrants accused of crimes," Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell University, told Newsweek. "Such cities and states may use those policies to prevent mass arrests."
Yale-Loehr said the first Trump administration "threatened to deprive so-called sanctuary jurisdictions of federal funding if they failed to cooperate with immigration agents. States and cities fought back, tying up the Trump administration's efforts in litigation. With more conservative judges now, it is unclear whether such lawsuits will succeed again."
Trump's team is weighing whether to withhold federal grants from local law enforcement agencies that decline to assist with deportations, NBC News reported last month.
Mark Morgan, who was acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection during Trump's first term, has said Trump's proposed plan will not work if states do not cooperate.
"It's not going to be successful, as long as we have sanctuary cities and states that refuse to allow local and state police departments to work with ICE," he told Stateline.
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