Trump Vows to Implement ‘Largest Deportation Effort in the History of Our Country’ if Reelected

Former President and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10, 2024. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump vowed to implement significant deportation measures to target illegal immigrants if reelected in November.

“We are going to have the largest deportation effort in the history of our country,” President Trump said. “We are bringing everybody back to where they came from. We have no choice.”

The former president made the comment during his Fox News town hall on Jan. 10 when asked how he would return millions of illegal immigrants to their country of origin.

The 45th president, a leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, noted that having millions of illegal immigrants “is not sustainable for” the United States.

“Did you see in New York City where they are getting the regular students out and they are putting migrants in their place?” the former president said, referring to a recent incident in New York City where students were forced to use remote learning as their high school sheltered illegal immigrants.

During the town hall, the former president criticized the Biden administration for the “chaos at the border” and pledged to “finish the wall” at the southern border, saying, “We have the worst border in history.”

The ongoing border crisis deepens with the number of nondetained illegal immigrants crossing over reaching a historical high of over 6 million, according to a new report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In December, during his campaign rally in Durham, New Hampshire, President Trump told his supporters that illegal immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” as they were “pouring into” the United States from “all over the world.”

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Dec. 22, President Trump said illegal immigrants are “destroying our country.” During the interview, he repeatedly raised the issue of illegal immigration, saying: “We have prisoners coming in. We have mental patients coming in by the thousands. Really, by the millions, because you take a look, I believe that number will be 15 million people. Maybe more than that” by the time President Joe Biden leaves office.

Hard Stance on Illegal Immigration

Last week, in an op-ed published in the Des Moines Register, the former president promised to take a hard stance on illegal immigrants.

“On my first day back in office, I will terminate every open borders policy of the Biden administration and immediately restore the full set of strong Trump border policies,” he said.

“Then, we will begin a record-setting deportation operation. Joe Biden has given us no choice. The millions of illegal aliens who have invaded under Biden require a record number of removals. This is just common sense,” the 45th president added.

President Trump also said that he would deploy local and federal resources to implement deportation measures.

“To achieve this goal, I will make clear to every department and to state and local governments that we must use all resources and authorities available. We will shift massive portions of federal law enforcement to immigration enforcement,” he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, also said he would impose strict measures to address illegal immigration, calling it “a persistent problem.” During the CNN GOP presidential debate on Jan. 10, Mr. DeSantis also promised the mass deportation of illegal immigrants if elected.

Immigration is one of the key issues in the 2024 White House race, and it is one area where Republican candidates are doing better than their Democrat counterparts. According to a Monmouth University poll released on Dec. 18, a record-high 69 percent of Americans disapprove of President Biden’s handling of immigration, while only 26 percent approve.

In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data show that its agents encountered a record-setting 2.48 million illegal immigrants at the southern border.