bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

US President-elect Donald Trump confirmed that he plans to declare a national emergency on border security and use the US military to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented migrants.
Immigration was a top issue in the election campaign, and Trump has promised to deport millions and stabilise the border with Mexico after record numbers of migrants crossed illegally during President Joe Biden’s administration.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump amplified a recent post by a conservative activist that said the president-elect was “prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation programme”.
Alongside the repost on Monday, Trump commented: “True!”


Asked for more details of the plan, Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that “President Trump will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history”.
Advocates for immigrants, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have said they are prepared to respond with legal action.
Trump sealed a remarkable comeback to the presidency in his November 5 defeat of Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris.
He has been announcing a cabinet featuring immigration hardliners, naming former Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting chief Tom Homan as his “border tsar”.
Homan appeared at the Republican National Convention in July, telling supporters: “I got a message to the millions of illegal immigrants that Joe Biden’s released in our country: you better start packing now”.
Trump also appointed Kristi Noem, who has little experience with the Department of Homeland Security, to lead the agency.

As governor of South Dakota, which is closer to Canada than Mexico, Noem deployed dozens of National Guard troops to assist the Republican-led state of Texas with border security in recent years, including one controversial deployment in 2021 funded by a Republican billionaire.
Trump’s long-time adviser Stephen Miller, who was behind much of his first term’s immigration agenda, will continue to play a role as deputy chief of policy.
Authorities estimate that some 11 million people are living in the United States illegally. Trump’s deportation plan is expected to directly affect around 20 million families.
While the US government has struggled for years to manage its southern border with Mexico, Trump has supercharged concerns by claiming an “invasion” is under way by migrants he says will rape and murder Americans.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly railed against undocumented immigrants, employing incendiary rhetoric about foreigners who “poison the blood” of the United States and misleading his audiences about immigration statistics and policy.
Trump has not elaborated on his immigration crackdown in any detail, but during his election campaign repeatedly vowed to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up deportations.

Critics say the law is outdated and point to its most recent use during World War II to hold Japanese-Americans in internment camps without due process.
Trump told Time he did not rule out building new migrant detention camps but “there wouldn’t be that much of a need for them” because migrants would be rapidly removed.
During his last presidency, Trump deported about 1.5 million immigrants, according to a Migration Policy Institute analysis of federal figures, which the Biden administration is on pace to match.
Also during his first term, Trump bypassed Congress to divert Pentagon funds to expand the border wall by declaring a national emergency. President Biden terminated the emergency order just after he took office in 2021.
Additional reporting by Tribune News Service and Reuters


China can counter Trump tariffs, Asian economies in US crosshairs and more by our columnists

Development finance veteran urges multilateral response to Trump challenges

Why Trump biopic The Apprentice was censored in Hong Kong

Apprentice star Sebastian Stan says other actors are ‘afraid’ to talk about Trump biopic

Donald Trump

Trump confirms he will use US military for mass deportation plan

Migrants seeking asylum in the United States being watched by the Texas National Guard. File photo: AFP

Tom Homan is Donald Trump’s ‘border tsar’ pick. File photo: Reuters

Then President Donald Trump tours a section of the border wall in San Luis, Arizona in 2020. File photo: AP

Trump picks Homan as ‘border tsar’, Stefanik as UN ambassador

The US-Mexico border in Douglas, Arizona. Photo: AFP

Tom Homan. File photo: Reuters

Donald Trump ally Elise Stefanik. Photo: Reuters

Trump picks Project 2025 co-author to run Federal Communications Commission

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Brendan Carr, a critic of the Biden administration’s telecom policies and Big Tech, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Photo: TNS

Brendan Carr is currently the top Republican on the FCC, the independent agency that regulates telecommunications in the US. Photo: AFP/Pool

Trump Treasury secretary pick in flux as jockeying slows selection and Musk weighs in

President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch a UFC fight in New York. Photo: AP

Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent. Photo: Reuters

Elon Musk has endorsed Howard Lutnick for Treasury secretary. File photo: Reuters

What I learned about Trump’s America on the eve of Election Day

Supporters of US president-elect Donald Trump celebrate after the election was called in his favour, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6. Photo: Reuters

Trump looks on as a screen shows US Vice-President Kamala Harris, then his presidential opponent, during a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan, on November 1. Photo: Reuters

A Democratic Party canvasser knocks on doors in Kent County, Michigan, on November 4. Photo: Khushboo Razdan

US House Speaker Johnson opposes call to release ethics report on Trump’s AG pick Gaetz

Matt Gaetz at a Donald Trump rally last moth. Photo: Reuters 

Matt Gaetz is a deeply polarising figure in the Republican Party. Photo: AP

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary. Photo: TNS

News

World

United States & Canada

US Elections

Donald Trump has promised to conduct the largest deportation operation in American history, which could upend the lives of 11 million people


Donald Trump has promised to conduct the largest deportation operation in American history, which could upend the lives of 11 million people.
