Donald Trump has vowed to deliver the “largest mass deportation effort” in American history if he gets back into office next year, targeting millions of illegal migrants across the country.
The 45th president has frequently spoken about his deportation agenda, and recently indicated in a TIME Magazine interview that he would leverage local law enforcement, the National Guard and the military to carry out his plan — similar to the dragnet-style sweeps of “Operation Wetback” under former President Dwight Eisenhower that shipped more than 1 million migrants out in 1954.
The Trump 2024 campaign has not gotten into the details of what resources would be needed to find, detain and deport the “nearly 20 million” illegal migrants they say are currently in the US.
But carrying out an operation that large would require a massive expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, collaboration with the State Department and a boost in funding from Congress, former ICE officials tell The Post.
The 20 million claim from the Trump campaign is “not an unreasonable estimate” given the fluctuations and record-breaking number of migrants entering the US under the Biden administration, Eric Ruark, NumbersUSA’s director of research, told The Post.
“There’s probably between 15 and 20 million, given the number of people we’ve seen coming over,” Ruark said, contrasting with the official estimate of 11 million from the US Census Bureau.
Tom Homan, former acting director of ICE under Trump, said the agency has “systems in place that are very good at identifying people,” but the speed of the deportations would depend on the resources on hand.
“A lot of that is going to be up to Congress … We need officers, we need detention beds, we need transportation contracts … because [we would have] more flights heading out of the country and more bus removals down to the border,” Homan said.
“We would still prioritize criminals and national security threats first, they are the most dangerous for the country.” he added. “But I would say no one is off the table. If you’re in this country illegally… then we’ll remove you.”
Asked by The Post whether he would go back to work in a second Trump term, Homan said he would “strongly consider” taking a job if asked.
Jon Feere, former ICE chief of staff under Trump, said “there’s no doubt that ICE would benefit from a significant increase in officers, agents and detention space” and that a Trump administration would “undoubtedly” make that request known to Congress.
But, Feere argued, ICE already has the capacity to detain more migrants than are currently being held under the Biden administration.
“This effort will likely include city-wide operations where officers from different parts of the country are brought in to conduct work site investigations and make arrests within the course of weeks within in any given jurisdiction,” he added.
“This will require a whole government approach,” Feere went on. “Every part of the government that has a nexus to immigration has a role to play here. From Health and Human Services, to the State Department, to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, every part of the government can assist in reducing illegal immigration.
Feere also said that “I’m sure I will be” involved “in some capacity” if Trump takes office, but did not say what role he might play.
Apart from the reluctance of a possible Democratic-run Congress to fund enhanced enforcement operations, a Trump administration could run into hurdles deporting migrants to their countries of origin if those governments refuse re-entry. That problem would have to be solved through the work of the State Department, along with a hardline foreign policy, the ex-officials told The Post.
Feere argued the Statement Department could use the Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to issue visa sanctions against countries that refuse to take back their citizens.
“When a country hears that the United States will not allow its residents in if they don’t take their people back, those countries quickly cooperate,” he told The Post.
ICE must also work around the problem of sanctuary cities who refuse to co-operate with removal operations, Feere said.
“ICE would prefer that all states and cities cooperate with federal law enforcement,” he warned. “But those that choose not to are going to see an increase in operations within their communities. ICE will have no choice but to conduct large operations.”
