Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Trump’s and Stephen Miller’s comments disclose the GOP’s massive immigrant deportation plan that will target millions of people. According to the Pew Research Center, “The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States reached 10.5 million in 2021 …” Tom Homan, a top Trump adviser says, “No one should be off the table.”

For an operation of that scale, Trump says he would rely mostly on the National Guard to round up and remove undocumented migrants throughout the country. “If they weren’t able to, then I’d use [other parts of] the military,” he says.

What would this cost? Estimates range to up to $300 billion. Think about military patrolling our streets. Moving deportees to internment camps, which are yet to be built. Feeding and caring for people. Then 95,000+ chartered flights. Guess who pays? We the taxpayers, of course.

Question, will it be worth it? Why?

Remember, these people have been assimilated into our country. Can you imagine the disruption in our society and businesses when people we have lived with and have depended on disappear? How will businesses replace the lost workers? How will landlords make up for lost rent? How will businesses maintain service and production?

What would this do to our economy? Some goods like food might be harder to get and thus would cost more because agriculture, meat packing and grocery stores would be hit hard. Construction, care for young and elderly would be hit hard. Prices for these would be hit would likely rise dramatically. With fewer goods to ship, would transportation companies suffer? Does this sound like recession and inflation at the same time? We all would suffer.

Where is the benefit to this? There can’t be enough hate to justify an intentional calamity of this magnitude. It will be a disaster.
Vote Harris/Walz/Metha.

Jim Knupp
Hartfield, Va.