(NewsNation) — President-elect Donald Trump has spoken extensively about his pledge for the mass deportation of migrants from the United States.
When Trump takes office, “There’s a lot of work in that first week and month” to achieve that goal, said Chad Wolf, Trump’s former acting secretary of Homeland Security.
“These aren’t secretive plans. These are things that conservatives have been advocating for some time,” Wolf said on NewsNation’s “The Hill.” (Mass deportation) looks like removing individuals that don’t have a right to be here. You target individuals. You remove dangerous criminals.”
Trump made securing the U.S. southern border a central component of his campaign for a second term in the White House, promising he will execute the largest domestic deportation in American history as soon as he takes office.
Now, as he looks ahead to January after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump is formulating what other policies will be part of his plan to solve the country’s immigration issues. Trump pledged to supporters early Wednesday morning that he would “fix our borders” and “fix everything about our country.”
As part of his border plan, Trump has pledged to go after the roughly 1.5 million immigrants who are in the U.S. and who have already received a formal order of removal. These immigrants include those who have been told by a judge that they do not qualify for asylum. Trump has also pledged to target immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and entered the U.S. illegally.
Trump’s border plan also involves leaning heavily into local law enforcement officers and military forces. That concerns some local law enforcement officials, however; Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels in Arizona said his department is already stretched thin, and he doesn’t know how much they can assist federal agents in apprehending immigrants.
NewsNation’s Ali Bradley contributed to this report.
