According to four current and former federal officials with direct insight into the planning, the Trump administration aims to deport at least one million migrants in the first year of the president’s return to the White House.
This would be the largest deportation program in US history, surpassing the previous record set during Barack Obama’s presidency when around 400,000 migrants were deported annually at its peak.
According to the officials, who spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity, White House adviser Stephen Miller is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies on a daily basis to achieve the goal.
However, the sources say there is still much uncertainty about how the mass deportations will be realized – not least because the agencies that will carry them out are suffering from staff shortages and budget constraints. Lengthy legal processes are also highlighted as a problem, as most migrants currently have the right to have their cases heard in court before they are deported.
One possible strategy to achieve the goal is to focus on deporting some of the 1.4 million migrants who already have final deportation orders but have not yet been sent home because their home countries refuse to accept them.
The administration is reportedly currently negotiating with up to 30 countries to accept deportees who are not their citizens, including Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama. A legal document mentions that it hopes to send “thousands” of migrants to such third countries.
“Efficient mass deportation of terrorist and illegal aliens”
White House spokesman Kush Desai declined to answer questions about the administration’s goals, but wrote in an email to the newspaper that the Trump administration has a mandate from voters to repair the Biden administration’s handling of border security and illegal migration.
“The entire Trump administration is aligned on delivering on this mandate, not on arbitrary goals, with a full-of-government approach to ensure the efficient mass deportation of terrorist and criminal illegal aliens”.
During his election campaign, Trump promised to deport “millions” of migrants when he came to power – and the Vice President, JD Vance, mentioned last year that a million could be deported first. However, according to the administration’s own figures, the process is complex – as immigration court proceedings can take years at worst.
The Trump administration has already sent hundreds of migrants to a mega-prison in El Salvador and to the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba – but these represent only a fraction of the millions of illegal immigrants in the country.
“Not just a switch you can turn on”
Finding the 1.4 million aliens with deportation orders who are in the US in the first place is also considered a very complicated project – despite a coordinated effort involving the FBI, DEA and ATF.
Therefore, the Trump administration has requested that Congress authorize additional funding to expand the effort and deploy additional personnel – although this is also expected to take time.
– The deportation process is time-consuming. That is not just a switch you can turn on, said former migration commissioner Doris Meissner.
Currently, an estimated 11 million illegal migrants are in the US.
