San Bernardino activists advocate for migrants following Trump's re-election
Concerned about President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promises, community activists hold signs in support of migrants on the steps of San Bernardino City Hall.
"We have the knowledge and the experience to know how to defend our communities and defend each other," executive director Claudia Bautista said.
Immigrant justice groups similar to the ones in San Bernardino believe they have to defend themselves following Trump's historic re-election.
"I will launch the largest deportation program in American history," he said during a campaign rally.
Trump believes the undocumented take jobs from Americans and make the country more dangerous. According to the American Immigration Council, there are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
Deporting 1 million people per year could take 1,000 new courtrooms to process and cost taxpayers an estimated $88 billion, roughly 11 times ICE's annual budget.
"There's probably going to be more DHS resources," former ICE agent Claude Arnold said."But you know, as far as some large-scale military operation, I think that's highly unlikely."
Arnold believes the Trump administration will likely reinstate executive orders erased by President Joe Biden to prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes. The retired ICE agent said California's sanctuary laws will be a huge impediment to that.
"There's going to be some legal wrangling between the state of California and the federal government over that," Arnold said.
He also said Trump set up job site audits to check for immigrant's work authorization.
