DHS Secretary John Kelly slammed the press in Mexico on Thursday for continuing to write that the Trump administration is planning “mass deportations,” or is considering the use of the U.S. military to arrest migrants, even though President Trump himself seemed to indicate that the effort was a “military” operation.
“There will be no use of military forces in immigration,” Kelly said in Mexico City. “At least half of you try to get that right because it continually comes up in the reporting.”
Kelly stressed those points throughout his remarks following a meeting with Mexican government officials. His statement was couched as a message of reassurance to the Mexican people as well as a rebuke of the media coverage of the immigration policies he is rolling out.
President Trump seemed to muddle the issue just before Kelly spoke, but referring to a “military operation” to deport criminal immigrants.
“We are getting gang members out, we’re getting drug lords out, we’re getting really bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump said Thursday at the White House. “And it’s a military operation because what has been allowed to come into our country when you see gang violence that you’ve read about like never before … much of that is people that are here illegally. And they’re rough and they’re tough, but they’re not tough like our people.”
But Trump’s spokesman clarified later that the president used that language metaphorically to describe the efficiency of the immigration officials. “The president was using that as an adjective,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at Thursday’s briefing. “It’s happening with the precision [of a military operation].”
The potential role of the military in border security received dramatic attention last week following a report that Trump’s team had contemplated asking state governors to call up their national guard units to help find illegal immigrants. DHS denied any interest in that plan, noting the story was based on a draft memo that was not being implemented. “It is 100 [percent] false,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said of the report.
Kelly was able to reinforce Trump’s comments about prioritizing the deportation of violent criminals.
“This is something that I would really like you all to pay attention to because it is frequently misrepresented or misreported in the press,” he said. “Let me be very very clear: there will be no, repeat, no mass deportations. Everything we do in DHS will be done legally and according to human rights and the legal justice system of the United States. All deportations will be according to our U.S. justice system which is extensive and includes multiple appeals. The focus of deportations will be on the criminal element that have made it into the United States.”
