Street protests, clashes with the governor of California and fears over the possibility of using the Pentagon for the largest mass deportation in American history.

The climate was already tense in the aftermath of Donald Trump's election , despite attempts to tone things down by Joe Biden, who will receive the president-elect in the Oval Office on Wednesday to implement the peaceful transition he promised.

The tycoon has engaged in his first political clash with Gavin Newsom, one of the Democratic governors preparing the "resistance" to make their state "Trump-proof", that is, proof against Trump and his policies . "Gavin Newscum (offensive nickname, scum means scum, ed.) is trying to kill beautiful California. He is using the term 'Trump-proof' as a way to stop all the great things that can be done to 'make California great again,' but I just won the election in a landslide," he wrote on Truth.

California is one of several blue states that have announced preemptive moves to “vaccinate” against Trump’s announced policies, and Newsom has already taken the lead in the “resistance.” He is joined by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, all of whom have presidential ambitions in 2028.

Among the most feared policies are those on immigration , with Trump having promised to put an end to Democratic sanctuary cities and to launch the largest mass deportation in US history. To implement it, the Wall Street Journal reveals, his advisers are evaluating a declaration of national emergency on the first day of his inauguration, which could allow the use of Defense funds (including for the wall on the border with Mexico), military facilities for detention and military aircraft for deportations. This while Pentagon officials are holding informal discussions on what to do if the future commander in chief were to give an illegal order, for example using the army against his political enemies or to push back migrants at the border with Mexico, given that American law generally prohibits the use of active troops for public order purposes.

Initially, the focus would be on illegal immigrants who have final orders of deportation from an immigration court, about 1.3 million, as well as those with other criminal convictions or charges, according to the WSJ . The incoming administration would also be considering ways to encourage immigrants to leave voluntarily , perhaps by waiving a 10-year ban on reentry.

A recent estimate by the American Immigration Council predicted that mass deportations of the current number of illegal immigrants in the United States (11 million people according to a government estimate in 2022, 20 million according to Trump) could cost $968 billion over more than a decade. Recently, however, the tycoon said that "it's not a question of cost" but the fact that "we have no choice." Tensions are also being fueled by the first street protests against "the coming danger," such as Saturday's march in the Big Apple: a prelude to the large demonstration on the National Mall in the capital on January 18, two days before Inauguration Day. In the meantime, the tycoon is working on his government team at Mar-a-Lago, cashing in on the suspension of the trial for the assault on the Capitol (an incumbent president cannot be prosecuted), also snatching the swing state of Nevada (the first Republican presidential candidate since 2004) and winning the popular vote with a higher number of votes than in 2016 and 2020: 74,303,161 (50.6%), with the count still to be completed.

(Online Union)

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