Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and his counterparts in 18 other Republican-led states have urged incoming President Trump to do something he’s already promised: crack down on immigration.
From Alaska to Florida – and 17 states in between – Republican attorneys general are asking incoming President Trump to keep his word on immigration enforcement promises he made on the Campaign trail.
They sent Trump a letter Wednesday and then blasted it to the media in a press release.
Drummond was among the attorneys general who vowed to support Trump’s lofty immigration goals.
“I look forward to seeing President Trump restore the rule of law in our country by securing the border and stopping the surge of illegal immigration that has resulted from the disastrous policies of the Biden Administration,” Drummond wrote in his release.
Among Trump's goals mentioned in the AGs’ letter are deporting nearly 11 million people over four years, rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program and ending U.S. birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants.
Also in the letter, the attorneys general say they support closing the southern border, finishing Trump’s border wall and revitalizing county-federal level agreements deputizing sheriffs to enforce immigration locally.
Known as 287(g) contracts after their policy line in the Immigration Nationality Act, the agreements are one of the few ways law enforcement in Oklahoma has supported addressing illegal immigration in the heartland.
“Republican attorneys general will support President Trump as he restores the rule of law to our immigration system,” reads the joint letter. “We will work with President Trump to secure the border, end failed Biden Administration immigration policies, and effect the largest deportation in U.S. history.”
Signing the letter is Drummond's latest move in line with efforts to enforce immigration at the state level.
During the last legislative session, he helped write House Bill 4156, a sweeping anti-immigration measure criminalizing everyone without a legal federal status.
While HB 4156 passed the legislature and received a signature from Gov. Kevin Stitt, federal authorities quickly sued the state of Oklahoma over it, pausing its enforcement until the court takes further action.
