Senate Democrats Seek To Reel In Removal Power On Immigration Amid Trump Fears

Democratic senators are seeking to impose limitations on the use of executive power over immigration policy during current negotiations over a border security package, NBC News reported.

Senators are negotiating new border security measures in exchange for approved aid to Ukraine, NBC reported. Some Democrats are seeking to include provisions in the bill that will prevent a new administration, such as under former President Donald Trump should he be elected, from imposing hard-line immigration restrictions.

“What Donald Trump could do with that — and would do with that — is very different,” an unnamed Democratic source told NBC. “And that is clearly on people’s minds as they are drafting.”

“None of this is being drafted in a vacuum,” the source continued.

Trump is currently leading President Joe Biden, the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, in major polls across multiple swing states.

Democrats are open to granting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Removal Operations division the power to remove illegal immigrants from the country who are apprehended shortly after they cross the border, NBC reported. However, they oppose any expedited powers for removal operations in the domestic United States to remove illegal immigrants who have already settled in the country, in some cases for years and are the spouses of U.S. citizens.

“Expanded nationwide expedited removal is an incredibly dangerous tool that, if willingly handed over in these negotiations, could be easily abused by a future Trump administration to target political opponents and critics,” Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California told NBC.

“[Trump and his team] have explicitly stated that nationwide expedited removal is absolutely fundamental if they’re going to pursue their horrific efforts to arrest and deport millions and millions of immigrants,” Todd Schute, the president of FWD.us, an immigration watchdog, told NBC News.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.