Militias loom darkly over Trump’s immigrant roundup

President-elect Donald Trump has reaffirmed that once he takes office, he plans to declare a national emergency and use the military on American streets to accomplish his promises to round up and deport millions of undocumented migrants.

Many experts’ concerns about this program have included the facts that immigrants contribute enormous value to the US economy and mass deportation would hurt food production, housing construction and other crucial industries. Other scholars have analyzed how deportation traumatizes families.

I have an additional concern about a renewed focus on deportation as someone who has studied US domestic militias for more than 15 years: Some militia units may see it as their duty to assist with such efforts. In fact, local police may even deputize certain militias to help them deport immigrants.

Anti-government, but supporting national defense

Militias are generally wary of the government. They’ve even been known to use violence against politicians and other government representatives, including police. I have found in my research that the militias’ disdain for the federal government is especially strong because they believe it is too big and corrupt and takes too much of their income through taxation.

But militia members’ negative beliefs about immigration and self-declared mission to protect the country could lead them to join a national mass-deportation effort. My research finds that militia members generally believe the falsehoods that undocumented migrants are a threat to public safety.

For some, my research finds, this perception is rooted in xenophobia and racism. Other militia members misunderstand what is required to obtain US citizenship: They believe that anyone who enters the country