President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to carry out “the largest mass deportation in history.”
That has national organizations and local advocates fearful and gearing up for the possibility.
Leo Murrieta with Make the Road Action Nevada recalled a previous program in the 1950s that used a derogatory word for Latinos, which deported more than a million people, including some with legal status.
“In the 1950s, Operation Wetback saw more than a million Latine people in our country deported back to Mexico,” Murrieta said during an online news conference in Las Vegas. “That included upward of 25-30% of people with legal permanent residents.
“Our communities have seen the failure of state agencies, the failure of municipalities, of institutions of learning, hospitals and others in law enforcement, when they have betrayed communities in the past and mass deportations have happened.”
Business leaders are also raising the alarm about the financial impact mass deportations would have on America’s economy. Murrieta said advocacy groups are reaching out and urging city, county and state entities not to share vital information.
“It's going to be up to every level of state government, local government and institutions of learning to make sure that the information they hold within their possession is not shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” he said.
These advocacy groups are calling for local and state agencies, such the DMV, not to share information with federal immigration enforcement officers.
In our region, Colorado and Nevada allow undocumented people to obtain a driver’s license or authorization card at the DMV.
Overall, polls show a range of voters do not support mass deportations in the majority of cases. A survey by Data for Progress taken before the November 2024 election asked people if they supported the deportation of undocumented immigrants in nine specific scenarios, and only two of them had broad support: When a person has recently crossed the border illegally (70%) and when a person has crossed illegally and has a criminal record for a non-violent offense (67%).
But in most of the other cases, more than a majority of voters think undocumented immigrants shouldn’t be deported if they are waiting for an asylum case to be resolved (64% support), were brought to the U.S. as children and lived here at least 20 years (65% support), have lived here for a long time and have children (59%), or have lived here a long time and own a small business (59%).
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) in Las Vegas, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
