Dean Johnson Comments on Trump Immigration Policies for Capital Public Radio

Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented for a news report on Capital Public Radio regarding how California may be impacted by the policies of president-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to deport 2-3 million undocumented immigrant criminals.

Since California is home to the largest population of undocumented immigrants, it’s likely that, of those who would be deported, “about 25 percent to one third are going to be in California,” Dean Johnson said.

While Trump appears to be set to follow President Obama’s lead in focusing deportation efforts on criminal offenders, it appears his administration may prove more willing to go after those convicted of low-level offenses, Dean Johnson said. "I think the Trump administration may go back and focus on all criminal offenders," Johnson said. "He seems to be taking a zero-tolerance position."

Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.