Written by Noah Carl.
Mass deportation of illegal immigrants was the key pledge of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
“Following the Eisenhower model,” he told crowds in Iowa, “we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history”.1 This would involve removing up to “20 million people”, according to an interview with Time magazine (despite most estimates putting the illegal immigrant population at around 15 million). And when he took the stage at the Republican National Convention, hundreds of baying supporters could be seen waving signs saying “MASS DEPORTATION NOW!” (to the horror of liberals and leftists).
After winning the election, Trump announced he would be appointing several figures with staunchly anti-immigration views, including Stephen Miller as White House Deputy Chief of Staff, and Tom Homan as White House Border Czar. All this suggested that he was serious about substantially reducing the illegal immigrant population — that whatever snags had obstructed his first term’s agenda would not get in the way this time.
