Trump vows to deport 'nearly 20 MILLION' illegal immigrants who have entered the US

Donald Trump has promised to deport “nearly 20 million” illegal immigrants from the country. During his term in office, illegal immigrant was drastically curbed. In 2016, he ran on a platform of border security and immigration has emerged as a top priortity among American voters during this election as well.

Eric Ruark, NumbersUSA’s director of research, told the New York Post, referring to illegal immigrants in the US, “There’s probably between 15 and 20 million, given the number of people we’ve seen coming over."

This is in contrast with the 11 million that has been recorded as an official estimate from the Census Bureau. 

In the former president’s interview with TIME magazine, Trump spoke on his plan to leverage local law enforcement, the National Guard, or the US military to carry out the deportation plan. 

The campaign has not gotten into specifics on the plan, as reported by the New York Post, however, ICE officials told the outlet that carrying out that kind of plan and operation would require massive investment into ICE and border security funding. 

Former acting director of ICE under the Trump administration Tom Homan told the outlet that there are “systems in place that are very good at identifying people” for deportation purposes. However, the speed would depend on the number of personnel available. 

“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 added. “We would still prioritize criminals and national security threats first, they are the most dangerous for the country.”  

He then added. “But I would say no one is off the table. If you’re in this country illegally… then we’ll remove you.”

Homan informed the outlet that if he was offered the job a second time under the Trump administration, he would “strongly consider” taking it. 

Jon Feere, former ICE chief of staff under Trump told the Post, “This will require a whole government approach.”

“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,” he added. 

ICE will also have to work around the issues that sanctuary states present to the operation when undertaken. 

“ICE would prefer that all states and cities cooperate with federal law enforcement,” Feere 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.”

Trump leads over Biden in recent polling on the topic of immigration and border security.