A Democratic Congresswoman has accused former President Donald Trump of planning to "rip the dad out of that household" after he pledged to carry out the largest mass deportation plans in history if he wins a second term.
Trump has repeatedly promised to deport migrants throughout the 2024 presidential campaign.
In response to Trump's proposed plans, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who represents California's 18th district, lambasted his controversial policy in an exclusive interview with Newsweek.
"Trump is proposing to go in and rip the dad out of that household and leave the mom and kids on their own. That's something all Americans should be concerned about," Lofgren said.
Immigration is at the forefront of voters' minds in November's election, with polls showing that Trump is viewed as more trustworthy on this matter than Vice President Kamala Harris. According to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll, Trump would do a better job at handling immigration (51 percent), than Harris (38 percent).
The incumbent Vice President has pledged to revive the bipartisan border security bill, which would have added 1,500 CBP officers and 4,300 asylum officers to deal with the backlog. The legislation was killed by Senate Republicans on Trump's orders.
The California Democrat said that due to the "dysfunction" in the immigration system, millions of Americans are living with a spouse who is undocumented.
"He seems to think there's a list of people who don't have their papers in order. That's not correct. So he's going to send in troops; you have to speculate. You know, who are they going to round up? It's whoever they think is an immigrant."
Newsweek has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
Trump also said he would force the million-plus people who arrived under humanitarian parole or were allowed to stay in the U.S. through Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to leave if he wins November's election.
He branded his policy as Operation Aurora and said the plans would begin in the town after video surfaced of an armed gang storming an apartment complex.
"I make this pledge and vow to you, November 5, 2024, will be liberation day in America," Trump told a crowd of MAGA supporters at a rally in Colorado in October.
"I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered."
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman has pushed back strongly against former President Donald Trump's claims that Venezuelan gangs have overrun his city. In response to Trump's remarks, which described Aurora as a "war zone" dominated by gang activity, Coffman clarified that these statements are significantly exaggerated. The mayor emphasized that while there have been isolated incidents involving members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang at a few apartment complexes, these do not represent widespread issues across Aurora. He described the claims as "grossly exaggerated," noting that Aurora remains a safe city with over 400,000 residents.
Trump has also said he would seek the death penalty for any undocumented migrant who killed an American citizen or law enforcement officer as part of Operation Aurora.
"Elite squads of ICE, border patrol, and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down, arrest, and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country," he said.
The American Immigration Council released a study recently that estimated carrying out mass deportations of illegal immigrants would cost the U.S. over $315 billion.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee has said he couldn't comment on Trump's flagship mass deportation policy until he had the opportunity to study it further.
Tennessee Republican Representative Mark Green expressed support for "some deportations" to remove immigrants with criminal records.
Texas Republican Representative Tony Gonzales, who has served Texas's 23rd Congressional District since 2021, previously told Newsweek that completely shutting down the border would cripple the economy and impact industries all over the country.
"There's not one industry that is not tied to the U.S.-Mexico border," he said.
Experts have warned that Trump's proposed mass deportation policy could slash the agricultural labor force by half, severely crippling the U.S. dairy industry.
Hector Quiroga, an immigration attorney, previously told Newsweek: "If implemented, these mandates would create a huge labor shortage in the U.S. and it would make us less competitive in the global marketplace.
Nearly half of agricultural workers in the U.S. are undocumented immigrants, and Trump's plan poses significant challenges for American farmers.
Some 45 percent of all agricultural workers in the U.S. today, 950,000 of an estimated 2.2 million farmworkers, are "unauthorized" migrants working illegally on American farms and ranches.
The future of America's agricultural industry may hinge on Trump's mass deportation policy, as experts have warned the farming industry would be "hard hit" if plans are carried out.
"Trump's plan to potentially deport between 15 million and 20 million undocumented citizens will have a disastrous impact not only on the agricultural industry but any industry that relies on nontrade workers," Jason Greer, MSW, a former board agent with the National Labor Relations Board, previously told Newsweek.
According to a report about Trump's mass deportation plans, immigrants made up almost 90 percent of the United States labor market growth over the past five years.
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) said 3.6 million foreign workers entered the U.S. job market between 2019 and 2024, compared to 479,000 American-born workers.
"The reality is that most of the people who would end up getting deported in any sort of mass deportation are people who are simply working in the U.S. labor force," Stuart Anderson, NFAP executive director, previously told Newsweek.
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