President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed that his administration will declare a national emergency and use the US military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. In a social media post on Monday, Trump responded "TRUE!!!" to a suggestion by conservative activist Tom Fitton that the next administration would use military assets to reverse what he called the "Biden invasion" through a mass deportation programme.
Trump has pledged to begin the "largest deportation programme in American history" on the first day of his presidency. However, many details remain unclear. He has previously indicated he would rely on wartime powers, military troops, and cooperation from sympathetic state and local leaders. Such a sweeping campaign is almost certain to face legal challenges and opposition from Democratic leaders, some of whom have already said they will refuse to cooperate.
To implement his immigration crackdown, Trump has assembled a team of loyalists and hardliners. Tom Homan, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been appointed "border czar" with responsibility for all deportations. Stephen Miller, a key architect of controversial policies such as family separation, will serve as White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a known immigration hardliner, has been nominated to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
Experts warn that a deportation campaign on the scale Trump envisions would face significant legal and logistical hurdles, as well as enormous costs. The American Immigration Council estimates that deporting one million people per year would cost over $960 billion over a decade. Trump has claimed he would deport at least 15 million people, though the figure is unverified. As of 2022, an estimated 11 million people were living in the US without authorisation, according to Pew Research.
