The former U.S. President and likely Republican Party nominee for this year’s elections, Donald Trump, intends to eradicate immigration through a set of tools aimed at deporting millions of individuals from the United States annually. This plan involves utilizing obscure laws, exploiting military funding, and deploying law enforcement officers at all government levels, as reported by Axios.
According to Axios, the significance of these measures lies in their potential to significantly disrupt local communities and economies across the United States, instilling fear among millions of individuals without legal status.
As per a knowledgeable source cited by Axios, if elected, Trump would mobilize immigration and customs enforcement agents alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, federal prosecutors, National Guard, and even local law enforcement officers to carry out deportation operations of undocumented immigrants.
Axios highlighted that Trump has long focused his campaign on anti-immigrant fears, stating in a recent rally, “They are poisoning our country,” a phrase he repetitively echoes.
The swift deportation operations, currently designated for recent border crossers detained near the borders, would be expanded to include individuals crossing illegally who fail to prove they have resided in the U.S. for over two years, according to the website.
Additionally, Axios pointed out that Trump would streamline the usual multi-step deportation process by employing arcane provisions from the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to immediately arrest and deport some criminally-convicted immigrants. The military would construct massive facilities near the borders to detain those awaiting deportation.
These actions are reminiscent of the immigration deportation era of the 1950s when over a million undocumented Mexican immigrants were deported during President Dwight Eisenhower’s tenure, marking the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, with military-like tactics used to apprehend and detain around 1.3 million individuals from Mexico, including some who were American citizens, as per federal immigration records.
Regarding the mentioned costs of Trump’s plan, the website notes they are unclear, with doubts surrounding his ability to implement it, especially given that deportation levels during his presidency never reached those of his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Analysts suggest that the human costs of Trump’s plan—impacting families, local community economies, employers, among others—could have widespread ramifications nationwide.
