Former ICE deputy director: Trump's immigration plan unrealistic

SAN ANTONIO – Immediately struck watching Donald Trump’s speech on immigration Wednesday night, Alonzo Pena said the candidate’s ideas are “almost trying to incite people to be anti-immigrant.”

“That’s the part that troubles me,” Pena said.

Pena’s perspective is different than most. Now an international security consultant, Pena was the deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

After devoting his government career to border issues, Pena said the majority of illegal immigrants are good people who came in the wrong door and are seeking to better themselves.

“We don’t have a system that would allow that to happen, so it’s happening illegally,” he said.

Pena said Trump’s plan to deport millions en masse is unrealistic, such as separating parents from their children born in the U.S.

“It’s going to create chaos. That’s not what our country is about,” Pena said.

He said there’s also costs to think about.

“It’s not like we’re putting them on buses back to Mexico,” Pena said.

Illegal immigrants come from all over the world. They’re often flown back to their home countries when deported.

“It’s much more complex than ‘We’re going to send them back,’” Pena said.

He said as of now, with the resources given by Congress, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is focusing on national security threats, criminals in the U.S. illegally and new arrivals.

Thousands of other immigrants are held in detention at taxpayer expense, awaiting asylum hearings.

“Employers are giving jobs to these people. They want that cheap labor,” Pena said.

Pena said employer sanctions adopted in the mid-1980s, during the Reagan era, were never enforced. He said rather than what Trump is proposing, “Why not try to find a solution to deal with these people and find a way they can assimilate into our country?”