Donald Trump's plan is clear: migrants without residence permits in the USA will be deported. In practice, this means that millions of undocumented immigrants will be deported, in many cases after having spent years or even decades in the USA, writes The New York Times.
On day one, I will close every one of the Biden administration's open borders. We will initiate the largest domestic deportation in American history, said the Republican presidential candidate during a campaign meeting in Conway, South Carolina in February.
In total, it could be about 15-20 million undocumented immigrants, claimed Trump in an interview with Time last spring.
To track them down, the customs and immigration authority ICE will receive help from federal agents, local police, and soldiers from the National Guard, according to American media. Those gathered will be locked up in newly established giant camps.
Expanded to Gaza
The final step – mass deportation – will be accelerated with the help of an expansion of the regulations that allow for deportation without usual hearings and investigations.
Not only undocumented immigrants will be deported. Trump also wants to revoke visas issued to students who have participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests – and to people who have received temporary residence permits for protection or other humanitarian reasons.
This means, for example, that tens of thousands of Afghans who were evacuated to the USA in connection with the Taliban's takeover in 2021 will be forced out, according to The New York Times.
The plan is also to revive the entry ban from Trump's first term, targeting seven countries with a Muslim majority. This time, it will be expanded to include Afghanistan and Gaza – and individuals with "communist and Marxist" views, according to NBC News.
Avoiding Legislative Changes
The entry ban aims to keep "radical Islamic terrorists and jihadists" out of the country, Trump claimed last year.
When I return to power, it (the ban) will come back, bigger and much stronger than before, he said according to CBS News.
Trump also wants to ensure that children of undocumented immigrants no longer automatically receive citizenship when they are born, according to media reports.
Many of Trump's plans will need to be tested in various courts before they can become reality, American media notes. Several of the most controversial aspects are also expected to face strong political opposition.
The overall plan is designed to avoid extensive legislative changes, writes The New York Times.
"Many of them have murdered far more than one person and they are now living happily in the USA. You know, for murderers, it's in their genes. And we have very bad genes in our country right now" – interview on "The Hugh Hewitt Show", October 2024
"They are destroying our country. They are dangerous. They are at the highest levels of criminality. We must get them out. We must get them out quickly" – debate against Kamala Harris on ABC News, September 2024
"In Springfield, they eat dogs. The people who have come in, they eat cats. They eat the pets of the people who live there" – debate against Kamala Harris on ABC News, September 2024
"A vote for Kamala Harris means that 40 or 50 million more illegal aliens will invade our borders, steal our money, steal our jobs, steal your lives" – campaign meeting in North Carolina, September 2024
"Democrats say 'please, don't call them animals. They are human beings.' I say 'no, they are not human beings, they are not human beings. They are animals'" – speech in Michigan, April 2024
"They are poisoning our country's blood" – campaign meeting in New Hampshire, December 2023
"We have hundreds of thousands of people pouring in from Haiti. Haiti has a huge AIDS problem. Many of them probably have AIDS, and they are coming to our country (...) It's like a death wish for our country" – interview on Fox News, October 2021
"Why do we let all these people from 'shithole countries' come here?" – about migrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and countries in Africa in the Oval Office, the White House, January 2018
