President-elect Donald Trump has announced a plan to deport all immigrants living in the United States without legal status during his upcoming four-year term.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump described illegal immigration as a national emergency he intends to address immediately after his inauguration on January 20.
The Department of Homeland Security estimated that in 2022, over 11 million people would reside in the US without legal documentation, a figure that has likely risen since then. Trump emphasised the importance of enforcing immigration laws, stating, “I think you have to do it. It’s a very tough thing to do. You know, you have rules, regulations, laws.”
While promising strict enforcement, Trump signalled some openness to negotiating protections for “Dreamers” — individuals brought to the U.S. as children without legal status. During his first term, Trump sought to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which shields Dreamers from deportation, but the Supreme Court blocked his efforts.
Additionally, Trump plans to issue an executive order to end birthright citizenship on his first day in office.
Birthright citizenship, enshrined in the 14th Amendment and upheld by an 1898 Supreme Court ruling, grants US citizenship to anyone born on American soil regardless of their parents’ immigration status. “We’ll maybe have to go back to the people,” Trump said, acknowledging that his proposal would likely face legal challenges and might even require a constitutional amendment.
The financial and logistical demands of these measures are significant. The American Immigration Council estimates that deporting all unauthorised immigrants would cost approximately $88 billion annually. Trump’s team, including his incoming border czar Tom Homan, is urging Congress to allocate substantial funding to bolster immigration enforcement efforts.
