Many people around the world have been left frustrated and anxious after Donald Trump swept to power on the back of the economic grievances of ordinary people and the fears surrounding mass illegal migration to the United States. Concerns surrounding an ‘invasion’ of the United States were exploited by Mr Trump and his supporters, including Elon Musk, to stoke fear among the population.
Between January 2021 and November 2024, more than 10 million attempted “unauthorised” crossings at the US-Mexico border, causing serious concerns among Americans. (SOURCE: bbc.com) Trump claims that this is because of ‘softer border policies’ under Biden. Conversely, Democrats argue that Biden’s presidency has seen a rise in undocumented immigrants entering the US due to his policies being more humane. Moreover, they do not cease to recognise the impact of forced global migration, sparked by wars and Western foreign policy over the past 100 years, as well as climate change.
While many Americans have opposed this migration, significant proportions of immigrants and, now, citizens of the United States have voted for Trump because they oppose this supposed “invasion.” Trump and his supporters have repeatedly spread and amplified this rhetoric. It’s a story similar to Brexit, where millions of British migrants voted in favour of Brexit because they were not in favour of mass migration from Eastern Europe into the UK despite migrating to Britain themselves.
Donald Trump’s solution to this has been to propose a “mass deportation” programme for millions of migrants, which he mentioned at a number of his political rallies. One of the men who has been given the responsibility of carrying this out is Stephen Miller, an ardent anti-immigration advocate whose own parents are immigrants. Miller played a vital role in formulating several of Trump’s arguably inhumane policies during his first term in office. These include the controversial and inhumane ‘Muslim Travel Ban’ and his policy of family separation at the southern border, which led to hundreds of children being forcibly separated from their parents. Moreover, at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, Miller told supporters that “America is for Americans and Americans only”, dismissive of the fact that America has been a country of immigrants built for and by immigrants. Miller will work alongside Tom Homan, who has appeared to be unable to articulate how he would go about this mass deportation programme, which could cost the US government billions of dollars annually.
Trump’s mass deportation plan will not only affect undocumented immigrants, but also the perception of documented immigrants, several now citizens of the United States. FBI data shows that in Trump’s first term, there was an anomalous spike in hate crimes targeting migrants. A 2019 FBI report found that 7,314 hate crimes had been reported to the FBI, a 19.49% increase since the beginning of Trump’s presidency in 2016. (SOURCE: fbi.gov) Trump’s mass deportation plan may serve to cause even more hate crimes than his first term, not only towards immigrants but all people of colour in the US.
A further issue with Trump’s plan is whether there is a system to distinguish who they are targeting and for what reasons. How will law enforcement distinguish between ordinary, law-abiding immigrants – people like my grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, who all live and work in the US – and so-called ‘illegal aliens’? How will the authorities avoid vengeful behaviour towards immigrants? Will there be a rise in stop-and-searches targeting immigrants? Rhetoric may have swept Trump to power, but the realities of his proposed policies for millions of ordinary people cannot be underplayed.
By Aryan
Winchmore School Newsroom