President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to implement mass deportations nationwide after the Biden-Harris administration. allowed At least 10 million immigrants have entered the country illegally in the past four years. While President Trump has many political allies, other members of the Republican conference have more moderate views on immigration, which could lead to a conflict in the coming weeks.
Despite being a central figure in much of the Republican Party's internal strife, House Speaker Mike Johnson enjoys the president-elect's wholehearted support. He has been sympathetic to President Trump's MAGA mandate, but wavered during the campaign on key immigration issues. interview Sunday with CNN.
“Our starting point should be every individual who came here illegally or was illegally and wrongfully released into the United States by the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas administration.”
First and foremost, Prime Minister Johnson reaffirmed that his position is largely in line with President Trump's, insisting that effective immigration policy is a “mission” from the American people.
“This is what the American people have asked for and rightfully so,” Johnson told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday. “They want a safe country. They want safe borders. And we're going to deliver that. That was the whole campaign mission.”
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Johnson has indicated that his deportation policy will not initially target all illegal immigrants, but rather will prioritize deporting criminals.
“I think what the president is talking about starts with the dangerous individuals that we know are here,” Johnson said. “We have criminals, known criminals. We have known terrorists in this country. We have people who have crossed the border illegally and committed violent crimes and been arrested. So we start with the number of those categories. There are three or four million people who fit that bill. Let's start there and see how it goes.”
Johnson's comments prompted some backlash from political allies and immigration hardliners like Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. They say we should “keep our foot on the gas” when it comes to deportations.
“We've made some progress in coming together,” Roy said on Glenn Beck's show Monday. “But let me tell you, I was a little concerned about what I heard yesterday, so the speaker stepped back a little bit. But if we focus on deportation, we keep our foot on the gas. I think it is necessary.”
“I want to be clear,” Roy continued. “Our starting point should be any individual who came here illegally or who was illegally and illegally released into the United States by the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas administration. They need to be removed.”
While Republicans like Johnson and Roy say the differences are small for the next Congress to interpret, other Republicans have taken diametrically opposed stances on MAGA mandates.
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzalez, a fellow Texan who represents a border county, has expressed opposition to President Trump's idea of blanket deportations.
“If the message is, 'We're here to deport you,' abuelita“That's not going to work,” Gonzalez said. saidIn a Sunday interview with ABC News, she used the Spanish word for “grandma.” “This must hold these hardened criminals accountable.”
“If we're going after the guy picking tomatoes or the nurse at the local hospital and we're not going after the convicted criminal, then our government has failed us. ,” Gonzalez said.
Despite President Trump's top-down orders, the Republican conference could be split on another issue.
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