President-elect Donald J. Trump has campaigned to implement the “largest deportation program in American history,” including a “Day 1” effort to send millions of immigrants “back to where they belong.” “I won’t put any price tag on it,” he vowed. About our efforts.
But as Trump moves from the campaign trail to the White House, Trump's team faces harsh realities on immigration policy. “Easier said than done.”
In public statements and private conversations with lawmakers, Trump's immigration team acknowledged that his desire for mass deportations would be costly and time-consuming.
Trump's immigration architect and deputy chief of staff nominee Stephen Miller spoke with congressional Republicans on Wednesday to “level-set” expectations and needs for immigration enforcement, according to a lawmaker who attended the meeting. I had a meeting with meeting.
Trump's nominee to oversee deportations, Tom Homan, urged Republicans to remove immigrants with criminal records instead of removing immigrants with uncertain or disputed legal status en masse nationwide. He said he hopes for a phased approach that prioritizes things first. And he made it clear that those efforts do come at a cost, saying they would require billions of dollars in additional congressional authorization.
That's a tall order on Capitol Hill, where Republicans hold a slim majority and Democrats are almost certain to oppose funding for mass deportations. Some lawmakers predict that after the first wave of purging easy-to-remove people is over, Trump will spend the rest of his term negotiating with Congress for additional funding.
“Congress needs to fund this deportation operation,” Homan told FOX Business in December. “It's going to be expensive, and everyone's looking at how expensive it's going to be.”
Mr. Trump will continue to find ways to draw attention to his early crackdown efforts, spotlighting deportations in Democratic-led cities and workplace raids early in his presidency. During an appearance on Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast in November, Homan said people should expect a “shock and awe” immigration response.
But the recent easing of expectations by the president's advisers means that Trump's ambitious immigration goals, which include deporting millions of illegal aliens, could face serious financial and logistical challenges. It shows that you accept that it is expensive.
Trump's team is considering taking public health measures to close the border with Mexico, but public health officials and others say the arrival of migrants poses a public health emergency for the nation. They may face difficulties in persuading the courts. In recent years, it has been treated with skepticism.
Mr. Trump could also use the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act accepted by Mr. Biden to tighten enforcement of border crossings. But Trump's 2018 attempt to use the law to stop asylum seekers from crossing the border illegally was blocked by a federal judge in San Francisco.
Mass deportations will require Trump to sharply hire immigration officials and secure access to more planes to remove millions of immigrants.
He will need to find a way to overcome rules that prevent migrants in what some call “sanctuary cities,” or police custody, from being turned over to federal immigration authorities.
Still, immigration experts say it will likely take more than four years to reach Mr. Trump's deportation goals.
“It's going to take time,” said John Fabricatore, a former ICE deportation official who has supported Trump's deportation plan. He said ICE officers will get to work quickly, but “let's have realistic expectations.”
ICE also does not know the location of each of the 12 million to 14 million immigrants whose status is contested or uncertain in the United States. To make mass arrests, authorities need to track addresses and conduct surveillance.
Indeed, Trump's harsh immigration rhetoric alone has already succeeded in rallying support for his presidency and moving immigration policy to the right. In a poll last year, about 55% of Americans said they wanted to see fewer immigrants in the U.S., up from 44% who said the same in 2023. Over the past year, Democrats have embraced restrictive border security measures once touted by Republicans. . Some Democratic governors, governor-elects and candidates have said they are open to considering areas where they could potentially work with Trump on immigration.
“The American people re-elected President Trump by a wide margin, and he is now tasked with delivering on the promises he made during his campaign, including deporting criminal immigrants and restoring our nation's economic prosperity,” Trump spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said in a statement. “I gave him the following.” In a statement. “He'll deliver.”
Homan told Republicans he was confident the new administration would ultimately accomplish its mandate to deport Trump. He said the new administration would not hesitate to deport undocumented parents of U.S.-born children.
Trump's team also plans to redeploy other federal employees and deploy local police officers and National Guard agents voluntarily contributed by Republican-run states to assist in deportation efforts. . After meeting with Trump's advisers, Republicans also discussed moving other funds in the Department of Homeland Security's budget to fund immigration enforcement.
“Can we do it with existing resources? Maybe, maybe not,” said Ronald V. Vitiello, Trump's former acting ICE director and Border Patrol chief. “The ministry can also reallocate existing budgets.”
“I think they'll start from day one,” he added. That may take a little more time. ”
When Trump last took office, he promised nationwide raids to deport millions of immigrants, and ICE officials in the country have long complained of limited resources. shocked many. He achieved mixed results.
In 2019, ICE removed more than 267,000 people, the highest number in a year under the Trump administration. This number pales in comparison to the high levels seen under President Barack Obama, when more than 400,000 people were deported in one year.
Authorities currently detain approximately 40,000 people each day due to funding limitations. Most immigrants deported from the United States are detained for some time. And the agency has just 20,000 employees, about a third of whom are deportation officers.
ICE operations in which police officers target and detain immigrants in U.S. communities are resource-intensive and often require extensive investigations. Capturing targets from local U.S. jails is much more efficient, but requires more cooperation from progressive cities that avoid cooperating with ICE.
ICE laid off more than 271,000 people in fiscal year 2024, the most since the Obama administration.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former Customs and Border Protection policy adviser, said Mr. Trump would benefit from Mr. Homan's experience.
“Mr. Homan is someone who has actually done this before, and he is trying to instill expectations, not rhetoric,” Cardinal Brown said. “We're going to continue to see people getting arrested and deported. They're going to make a big show. Millions in a few months? Not likely.”