WASHINGTON — Kentucky’s Republican representatives in Congress are signaling they are on board with President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to activate the U.S. military to carry out mass deportations when he returns to the White House in January.

Rep. James Comer said he fully supports the incoming Trump administration’s efforts “to restore deterrent-focused policies, enforce the rule of law and secure the border.”

“President Trump has been clear about the importance of ending the worst border crisis in American history and the American people overwhelmingly support and demand the common sense actions he will take on his first day in office,” Comer told the Herald-Leader.

Rep. Andy Barr, who represents the Lexington area, couched his backing only by adding a qualifier that it must be constitutional.

“Under Border Czar Kamala Harris, over 10 million illegal immigrants, including known terrorists, have invaded our country. I’ll support any constitutional action from President Trump to close our borders and to protect our national security and sovereignty,” Barr said. “The current administration’s open border policies have made every community a border town, with American families bearing the tragic costs through increased crime, strained public services, and the devastating loss of loved ones to deadly fentanyl and criminal aliens.”

Barr’s spokesperson did not respond to a follow-up on whether the congressman believed deportations by the military are constitutional.

Trump’s deployment of the U.S. military to deliver on a core campaign promise is likely to face significant constitutional and legal challenges.

He’s cited the 1798 Alien Enemies Act as the authority he would invoke, but some legal experts say the threat of a foreign invasion is necessary to trigger that power. The use of the act would be unprecedented during peacetime, but Trump transition officials believe declaring a national emergency would unlock billions in Pentagon funds to carry out the order.

“There is no National Emergency Act to use the military for deportations,” noted Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council.

But even a strong constitutionalist like Northern Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie hasn’t raised questions about the legal mechanism Trump is planning to use.

“I support President Trump’s strong mandate to enforce the immigration laws of the United States,” Massie said in a statement.

Rep. Hal Rogers, the dean of the U.S. House, said Trump’s reelection empowered him to fulfill his promise.

“The American people elected President Trump to charge forward with a new strategic plan to deport the drug dealers, human traffickers and other criminals who are wreaking havoc on our communities,” Rogers told the Herald-Leader. “We must protect the American people and give the known criminals an eviction notice, not a free bus ride, a meal card and a free place to stay.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell has not made a public statement on Trump’s plan and a spokesperson did not elaborate on how the outgoing GOP leader would react if the president-elect follows through.

A spokesperson for Sen. Rand Paul did not return a request for comment.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised to deport all immigrants living inside the U.S. illegally but ended up removing only about 1.2 million in his first term.

According to the Migration Policy Institute’s analysis, there were approximately 46,000 unauthorized immigrants in Kentucky as of 2019. The Department of Homeland Security estimates there are nearly 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the country, with nearly half of them coming from Mexico.

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has said the incoming administration would prioritize the deportation of immigrants who have committed crimes or already received a deportation notice.

Beshear will wait and see

Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear didn’t have much to say on the deportation plans last week, citing a lack of details as of yet.

“I do expect the new administration to be tougher on immigration, but we’ll see what the tools are that they plan to use, and we’ll see what we’re asked to do,” Beshear said. “Certainly, anything that we’re asked to do will have to be ultimately legal under both federal and state law.”

He also emphasized the nuance of migrants’ situations in the United States, pointing out that many non-citizens entered the country legally through asylum programs.

Still, Trump could move to shudder the temporary protective status program, which would make millions more vulnerable for deportation.

Beshear’s stance on the matter could come into play given the governor’s authority over the state’s National Guard assets. Kentucky National Guard units have previously been deployed at the southern border as well as to Louisville during protests related to the police killing of Breonna Taylor; a member of the Kentucky National Guard ended up killing Louisville restaurant owner David McAtee during that deployment.

When asked for comment on Trump’s latest proposal, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, the state’s top law enforcement official, pointed to a previous statement he made condemning “President Biden’s failed policies” on illegal immigration.

“We must secure our border and stop the flow of illegal immigration and deadly drugs from surging into every community and indeed making Kentucky a border state,” Coleman, a Republican, said previously.

While not often seen as a state-level issue, rhetoric around immigration to the United States, through the Southern border has made its way into Kentucky political campaigns before.

In 2023, two Republican candidates for statewide office focused heavily on border security and cracking down on illegal immigration. Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft used the issue to bolster her primary campaign for governor, complaining that Democrats like Beshear weren’t concerned with the “crisis” at the border; she finished third in the primary.

Treasurer Mark Metcalf, a former federal immigration court judge who won a contested primary and general election to claim the lesser-known statewide office, used his experience as a former federal immigration court judge to claim he would “crack down on illegals siphoning tax dollars away from lawful Kentuckians.”

On the other side of the aisle, Beshear has tacked to the middle on the matter of border security.

In a state ceremony held during peak campaign season last year honoring National Guard troops deployed to the Southern border, Beshear said “border security is national security.” He also emphasized the importance of stemming the flow of drugs into the United States at the border.

©2024 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.