Trump vows to declare national emergency, use military for mass deportations

On social media, President-elect Donald Trump acknowledged he plans to declare a national emergency and use the military for a mass deportation program.

Two months before Trump takes the oath of office, two immigration attorneys who know South Florida well – have a stark warning for two communities in South Florida.

“More people are going to go to trial, more people are going to be deported,” Immigration Attorney Willy Allen said.

Trump has vowed that on day one, his administration will restrict immigration and ramp up deportations. Part of the plan includes getting rid of the humanitarian parole program, which has benefitted more than 531,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. All four groups make up the largest exile communities in South Florida.

“I’m not worried about Cubans because we have the Cuban Adjustment Act,” Allen said. Cubans are the only group in the U.S., who by law, can legalize in a year and a day under the law.

Allen is also not immediately worried about Venezuelans as some are protected by Temporary Protective Status through April of 2025.

But Allen adds our community doesn’t realize the kind of impact mass deportations will have on local families.

“Who am I worried about? Number one, Haitians,” he said. “Haitians were the one group that had the most entries with the humanitarian parole [program].”

He is right.

Through the end of September, the Department of Homeland Security reported nearly 214,000 Haitians have arrived in the U.S. through the parole program started by outgoing President Joe Biden.

Venezuelans have the second highest number with nearly 121,000 who were granted parole.

Cubans come in third place with more than 110,000 who have arrived under the program, while Nicaraguans have been granted more than 96,000 applications.

“The argument would be that he could do away with the program but the people who are already here have a two-year window to stay here,” Allen said.

But immigration experts remind us that the two-year window is coming to a close, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in legal limbo and possible deportation orders.

“Basically starting in 2026, a lot of people will not have any status if the trump administration decided to end the parole program or to revoke it before ends,” said Nadine Gedeon, another immigration attorney, who practices here in South Florida.

She added: “people are panicking and they have a reason to panic because they don’t see a future.”

In the case of Haiti, these are immigrants who now don’t see a future here or in Haiti as the Caribbean country remains in deep social, economic and political turmoil. 

“Haiti right now is going through a lot. We have gang-infested areas,” Gedeon said. “We have a lot of murderers. And they [immigrants] are worried that they will be sent to their deaths.”

In addition to fearing violence, Gedeon said her clients are fear deportation-related family separations when Trump takes office.

“I expect that after January 20th, 2025, life will become much more difficult for immigrants here whether they have documents or not it will be a difficult road,” Allen said.

Both attorneys agree the effects of mass deportations go beyond these groups and they’re warning the community should expect significant impact on our local economy which relies heavily on immigrants who work in agriculture, construction and other sectors.