Former US President Donald Trump will seek to impose a series of aggressive restrictions on immigration – including detention camps for migrants near the country’s southern border – should he be reelected to the White House later this year, according to a report by Axios.
Trump has made immigration reform and the strengthening of border security protocols key campaign pledges ahead of a likely rematch with incumbent President Joe Biden in November. Should he win the presidency, Trump will seek to harness a range of executive powers to deport “millions” of people as part of his immigration crackdown, the outlet said on Sunday.
Citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the plans, Axios reported that a second Trump administration would likely see the mobilization of US immigration officials, the FBI and various other executive arms of the government to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Additionally, fast-track deportations would be expanded to individuals found to have illegally crossed the border and who are unable to prove they have been living in the United States for at least two years, the report said.
Furthermore, Trump would make use of legislation which is more that two centuries old that would allow for the rounding up and immediate deportation of immigrants with criminal histories, the publication claims. Large sites would also be constructed to hold migrants awaiting deportation in areas close to its southern border with Mexico.
It was also previously noted by Axios that Trump would likely reimpose the so-called ‘Muslim ban’ that restricts the entry to the US of people from some Muslim-majority countries. US President Joe Biden had previously rescinded the legislation when he succeeded Trump in 2021.
In December, Trump said at a campaign stop in the state of New Hampshire that immigrants “are poisoning the lifeblood of our country” – rhetoric that was seized upon the Biden campaign, who claimed that he had “parroted Adolf Hitler” who had used similar language in Mein Kampf.
Axios also stated that Trump’s immigration agenda would likely receive pushback from Democratic lawmakers, as well as from Latino advocacy groups and ‘Sanctuary Cities’ – the title given to areas that obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
Financial analysts have also predicted that removing undocumented migrants from the workforce would harm the US economy, as well as stifle policies designed to ease inflation, Axios said.
Trump adopted a similarly aggressive approach to immigration during his four-year term in the White House between 2017 and 2021, although he managed to deport fewer people during his presidency than his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Last month, a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that immigration is the key issue of concern for US voters, ahead of inflation and the economy.
The number of people arrested for crossing into the US from Mexico illegally reached an all-time high of 249,785 in December, US officials said last month. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the number of non-detained illegal immigrants soared to 6.3 million last year – compared to just 3.7 million in 2021.
