Gov. Kevin Stitt Kickstarts Plan to Deport Illegal Immigrants in Oklahoman Jails when Trump Assumes Office

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has drawn an ambitious plan to kickstart President Donald Trump’s mass deportation of illegal immigrants in his state.

Gov. Stitt directed Oklahoma’s commissioner of public safety to hatch a plan to start the deportation of illegal immigrants in state prisons by January 2025 when Trump takes over. Stitt lamented that under the Biden administration, the ICE could not deport illegal immigrants the state turned over.

“We’re preparing for Operation Guardian in Oklahoma— the deportation of illegal aliens, starting with those already sitting in our jails,” Stitt X’ed.

Gov. Stitt’s move comes hot on the heels of liberal states and cities rushing to pass ordinances to create sanctuaries for illegal immigrants before Trump launches the largest mass deportation in American history. 

In November, America’s second most populous city and the most violent in California, Los Angeles, unanimously passed an ordinance designating it as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.

Despite the pushback from deep blue states, Stitt defended the plan to rid correctional facilities of illegal immigrants, saying it was a commonsense move that would restore “the rule of law” in Oklahoma. 

The governor noted that some illegal immigrants, who broke the law when they entered the country illegally, were also involved in other crimes, such as pushing fentanyl, rape, and burglary. Research shows that illegal immigrants have higher crime rates than legal migrants.

“I don’t know who could argue with me on ‘We want to make sure that those people are out of our country and not allowed to return,’” Gov. Stitt said.

Oklahoma prisons hold over 500 illegal immigrants serving sentences for various crimes, including some enumerated by the governor. Given that the state spends about $36,000 daily to house incarcerated illegal immigrants, deporting them would save taxpayers’ money.

“So these are people that are here illegally, that have committed crimes, and we want to make sure that they’re not burdensome to the taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma,” Gov. Stitt told Fox News Digital.

Gov. Stitt also explained that he was not anti-immigration but anti-illegal border crossings involving breaking the country’s laws.

He also said he supports individuals on student visas and would like them to convert to work visas, chase the American dream, and pay taxes like the rest of the Americans. 

“…then we absolutely want to work that angle as well.”

He also slammed Democrats who never “learned anything from the election,” and are now opposing Trump on illegal immigration by pushing sanctuary movements to protect illegal immigrants from deportations.

“…American people want safe communities, and we want to have strong borders.”

Besides Gov. Stitt’s plan to deport incarcerated illegal immigrants, Oklahoma is ahead of other states in addressing crimes by individuals who entered the country illegally.

The state passed the Citizen Protection Act of 2007, which aims to increase law enforcement actions for illegal immigrants and reduce their public benefits.

Contrary to sanctuaries passing laws to limit cooperation with the federal government in cracking down on illegal immigration, the act requires local and state agencies to cooperate with ICE in enforcing immigration laws. 

It also requires employment verification, sanctions employers, and criminalizes the transportation of illegal immigrants, which is tantamount to human trafficking, a federal crime.