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‘Good luck’: AG Campbell casts doubt on timeline of Trump’s deportation plans

Attorney General Andrea Campbell is one of several Massachusetts Democrats openly defying Trump's plans to conduct mass deportations.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Charles Krupa/AP

November 26, 2024

2 minutes to read

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Tuesday that her office is preparing to fight back against president-elect Donald Trump’s plans to deport millions of undocumented migrants, even casting doubt on the feasibility of such a plan being implemented immediately after Trump takes office.

“We’re prepared and ready to fight back on any plan to mass deport our people,” Campbell said on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio.”

On the campaign trail, Trump frequently promised to oversee the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, framing undocumented migrants as bloodthirsty criminals who are ruining the fabric of the country.

Since his victory, Trump has made clear that he meant what he said, signaling his intention to declare a national emergency and use the military to round up migrants. A top advisor has previously floated the idea of using National Guard troops from sympathetic red states and sending them into states governed by Democrats.

Massachusetts leaders like Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are taking these threats seriously. Healey said that State Police will not cooperate with Trump’s plans, and Wu has said that the city has “no intention of rolling out the welcome mat for” the Trump administration.

Trump promised to begin deportations on the first day he is in office.

“On day one? Good luck. It’s not happening on day one,” Campbell said Tuesday.

Campbell is in close contact with Healey, Wu, and other leaders to prepare for deportation efforts, she said, without offering specifics. She does not want to deal in hypotheticals, and said she has not seen concrete plans from the Trump team about how mass deportations would occur in Massachusetts. Despite hoping for collaboration with the incoming Trump administration, she said she is “clear-eyed” about the threats he poses.

Deportations of only undocumented migrants on the scale promised by Trump and his newly appointed “border czar” Tom Homan would inevitably tear families apart. When asked if there was any way to conduct mass deportations without separating families, Homan said recently that “families can be deported together.”

Campbell warned about what this could mean.

“It’s not as easy as people think. If you’re talking about mass deportation of folks in the millions, you are going to be rounding up folks who are here legally. Simple as that,” she said.

In response to some of Wu’s remarks, Homan called the mayor “not very smart,” warned her about crossing a “clear line,” and said that Boston officials would need to “get the hell out of the way” if they are determined not to cooperate with federal agents.

More disputes between Massachusetts leaders and Trump allies appear inevitable. Last week, Elon Musk said some Massachusetts officials were “protecting child rapists” and called for any politician doing so to be recalled. On Tuesday, Campbell stressed that her office is indeed committed to public safety and determined to hold people who commit crimes accountable, regardless of their immigration status. Undocumented migrants who are “perpetuating crimes” are being deported, she said.

“That accountability work we have already been doing. And here you have folks suggesting that we haven’t, and actually just fearmongering suggesting that a whole group of people is out there committing illegal crimes every day. It’s not true,” Campbell said.