The ex-president Donald Trump put immigration at the center of his political discourse again, announcing a radical approach to his immigration policy if he is elected president again in 2024.
This was stated on Saturday during the Freedom Summit of the Republican Party of Florida, held in Kissimmee, before hundreds of followers to whom he promised a series of unprecedented measures, aimed at both legal and unauthorized immigrants, and including a massive deportation policy.
“We are going to win the Florida primary for the third time in a row, and we are going to win the state in a landslide next November,” Trump told a boisterous crowd, before calling to the stage several Florida lawmakers who switched their endorsement of the governor. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis, Trump and other candidates on Saturday signed qualifying paperwork for Florida’s March 2024 primary. The primaries could prove critical, but only if the governor or other candidates can weaken Trump’s strength in the early nominated states ahead of him.
“Weakening DeSantis’ position in Florida is a clear goal of the Trump campaign,” he told the agency. AP a Republican strategist who worked on the 2016 presidential campaign of Marco Rubio.
In front of large banners that read: “Florida is Trump country,” the Republican hardened the tone and substance of his anti-immigration speech, basing his arguments on the same hardline playbook he used during his 2016 campaign.
Among the measures he promised to implement are building additional miles of border wall, dramatic limits on asylum, reinstating the program that forced immigrants to wait for their asylum hearings in Mexico, and ending birthright citizenship for children of immigrants living in the country illegally.
Additionally, Trump suggested the possibility of denying entry to legal immigrants based on their ideological beliefseven going so far as to affirm that some immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” according to CBS.
While marking a departure from current policy, these proposals would face considerable legal and operational challenges, testing the limits of presidential authority and government resources.
Angela Kelleyformer high-ranking immigration official at the Biden administration, called Trump’s promises “extreme” proposals that would “terrorize” immigrants. However, Chad Wolfwho led the Department of Homeland Security during Trump’s final year in office, defended these measures, arguing that they are necessary to address the crisis at the southern border.
In his speech, Trump vowed to carry out ‘largest deportation operation’ in US historymodeled after the Eisenhower administration’s infamous “Operation Wetbacks” in 1954. This would involve giving the National Guard and state officials the authority to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, thus challenging legal limits on military involvement in law enforcement at the national level.
Additionally, Trump announced his intention to invoke the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to deport suspected immigrant gang members. He also pledged to issue an executive order on his first day back in the White House that he would try deny birthright citizenship to children whose parents are not U.S. citizens or permanent residentsa measure that raises significant legal questions.
Regarding the border between the United States and Mexico, Trump expressed his intention to restore policies to disqualify most immigrants seeking asylum and expedite their deportation.
These measures include the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy and agreements that allow the United States to redirect asylum seekers to third countries, as well as broad restrictions on asylum eligibility. Trump also mentioned the possibility of reactivate Title 42 to expel migrants for public health reasonsincluding unaccompanied children.
While Trump’s promises may seem dramatic, they would face significant legal and operational obstacles. For example, the promise to end birthright citizenship is legally questionable, as most jurists believe it is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Additionally, a mass deportation operation would require a substantial amount of resources and face significant legal and humanitarian concerns, such as due process and potential family separation. However, Trump’s extreme positions in this area have found an echo among some Republican candidates and do not seem to bother a good part of Americans, as reflected a recent survey of New York Times and Siena College.
