'Big difference': Army of lawyers declare war against Trump's biggest campaign pledge
President-elect Donald Trump will only have his big mouth to blame if he can't get his biggest campaign promise past a battalion of activist attorneys armed and ready for legal war, those lawyers reportedly say.
A network of hundreds of lawyers say they're better prepared than ever before to challenge Trump's anti-immigrant policy promises that include mass deportations and camps, the New York Times reported Monday.
“The Trump team might think they are ready,” Camille Mackler, the chief executive of Immigrant ARC who began organizing against Trump in 2017, told the Times. “But so are we.”
Immigrants rights attorneys told the Times they've been preparing for months to combat workplace raids, immigrant roundups, asylum restrictions and detention centers.
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The Times noted Trump was often vague about how he would enact mass deportation of millions of people, a pledge the outlet describes as "all but impossible with current enforcement resources."
Becca Heller, founder of the International Refugee Assistance Project, which sued the government over Trump's Muslim ban, told the Times she believed fellow advocates will have three significant advantages: experience gained during his first administration, rule of law, and the former president's bombast.
“Trump has told us what to expect — hate and persecution and concentration camps," Heller added. But, "he can’t act outside the bounds of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."
Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who fought family separation, told the Times, and the nation, to expect an onslaught of lawsuits.
“We have spent the last nine months planning for this, and are prepared to go to court as often as necessary," said Gelernt. "Just like the first time."
Benjamin Johnson, the executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said his organization is also well prepared to protect their clients' rights in court.
“He has threatened to use powers — some that haven’t been used in a century, since World War II — to arrest, detain and imprison people without any judicial review,” Johnson said. “We are going to have to find ways to meet the moment.”
Bruna Bouhid-Sollod, senior political director for United We Dream Action, told the Times her organization is preparing to provide “know-your-rights” training and mount letter-writing campaigns urging elected officials to protect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
“We are cleareyed about the challenges ahead,” Bouhid-Sollod said. “That is the big difference between 2016 and 2024.”