WASHINGTON: Republican Donald Trump is expected to crack down on illegal immigration and try to restrict legal immigration when he returns to the White House on Jan 20, following up on campaign promises and unfinished efforts from his 2017-2021 presidency.

Here are some of the policies under consideration, according to Trump, his campaign and news reports

Border enforcement

Trump has said he would restore his 2019 “remain in Mexico” programme, which forced asylum-seekers of certain nationalities attempting to enter the US at the southern border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their cases.

The programme was terminated by Democratic President Joe Biden. Edison Research exit polls showed 39 per cent of voters said most immigrants in the US illegally should be deported while 56pc said they should be offered a chance to apply for legal status.

Trump also would reinstate the Covid-19-era Title 42 policy, which allowed US border authorities to quickly expel migrants back to Mexico without the chance to claim asylum, he told Time magazine in an interview. He would use record border crossings and trafficking of fentanyl and children as reasons for the emergency moves, Time reported, citing comments from advisers.

Trump has said he will seek to detain all migrants caught crossing the border illegally or violating other immigration laws, ending what he calls “catch and release”. At a campaign event earlier this month, Trump said he would call on Congress to fund an additional 10,000 Border Patrol agents, a substantial increase over the existing force.

Trump focused on building a wall on the US-Mexico border during his first term and has pledged to close gaps in the border wall if elected. His administration built 450 miles of barriers across the 1,954-mile border, but much of that replaced existing structures.

Trump criticised a Biden asylum ban rolled out last June and pledged to reverse it during a campaign event in Arizona. He said the measure would not adequately secure the border, even though it mirrored Trump-era policies to deter would-be migrants and has contributed to a steep drop in migrants caught crossing illegally.

Trump also said at the campaign event that he would consider using tariffs to pressure China and other nations to stop migrants from their countries from coming to the US-Mexico border.

Mass deportations

Trump has pledged to launch the largest deportation effort in US history, focusing on criminals but aiming to send millions back to their home countries, an effort that is expected to tap resources across the US government but also face obstacles.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.

Trump has also vowed to take aggressive new steps to deport immigrants with criminal records and suspected gang members by using the Alien Enemies Act, a 226-year-old statute last utilised for interning people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War Two. Trump called for the death penalty for migrants who kill US citizens or law enforcement officers at an October rally in Aurora, Colorado.

Travel bans

Trump has said he would implement travel bans on people from certain countries or with certain ideologies, expanding on a policy upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Trump previewed some parts of the world that could be subjected to a renewed travel ban in an Oct 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security.”

Legal immigration

Trump said last year that he would seek to end automatic citizenship for children born in the US to immigrants living in the country illegally, an idea he flirted with as president. Such an action would run against the long-running interpretation of an amendment to the US Constitution and would likely trigger legal challenges.

Trump has said he would push for “a merit-based immigration system that protects American labor and promotes American values.”

Trump has vowed to end Biden “parole” programmes that have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants with US sponsors to enter the US and obtain work permits, including Ukrainians and Afghans. He has called Biden’s programmes an “outrageous abuse of parole authority.”

Trump tried to end a programme that grants deportation relief and work permits to “Dreamer” immigrants brought to the US illegally as children, but the termination was rebuffed by the Supreme Court in June 2020.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2024