Donald Trump could house migrants in military bases under mass deportation plan
Donald Trump is planning to use military bases to detain migrants to help him carry out deportations.
Following Mr Trump’s sweeping election victory, his advisers have drawn up plans to implement the mass deportations which the president-elect made central to his campaign.
The plans involve issuing a national emergency declaration at the border on Mr Trump’s first day in office, insider sources told the Wall Street Journal.
According to the newspaper, Mr Trump’s advisers believe this would enable them to use military bases for immigrant detention and military planes to help carry out deportations.
They are also understood to think it would allow him to reallocate Pentagon funds to pay for the construction of a wall on the border.
The prospect of Mr Trump passing an emergency declaration reinforces his previous claims he has “no problem” deploying military and National Guard troops to achieve his deportation goal.
Mr Trump has vowed to carry out the “largest mass deportation in history”, aiming to remove an estimated 11 million people residing in the US without legal status.
‘No price tag’
Asked how he would pay for the move, which could cost a total of $968 billion, according to a report by research firm the American Immigration Council, Mr Trump said there was “no price tag”.
In one of his first interviews since winning office, Mr Trump said: “It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not — really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here.”
To realise his vision, behind-the-scenes talks began months before the election and have accelerated in recent days to address the policy changes required, the WSJ reported.
Measures suggested include slashing restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement pursuing immigrants who entered the country illegally but who have not committed other criminal offences, and fast-tracking cases through the courts.
Allies of the president-elect told the paper their primary focus is on the estimated 1.3 million illegal immigrants who have received final deportation orders and those with other criminal convictions or charges.
Sources close to Mr Trump said his transition team was also considering ending two programmes introduced by the Biden administration that have enabled more than 1.3 million immigrants to enter the US legally, making those who entered but have not yet received asylum eligible for deportation.
Under the plans, migrants who arrived in the US legally through Joe Biden’s CBP One and CHNV parole programmes who have not yet been granted asylum could be deported, sources told NBC News.
The CBP One app entry programme, introduced in January 2023, was designed to help control the number of migrants crossing the border illegally by enabling them to book appointments with immigration officials through an app.
However, critics have blamed the programme for allowing an influx of criminals to cross the border.