Conflict topic migration: Trump’s head of border security: Start on day one

The government of the future US President Donald Trump wants to quickly start deporting migrants without valid documents after taking office. The “largest deportation operation in US history” is a central campaign promise of the Republican. US media such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that the first raids were planned shortly after Trump was sworn in on Monday, initially in Chicago. Accordingly, “Operation Safeguard” will last a week and may also extend to other cities.

New head of immigration authority denies this

Tom Homan, who is supposed to head the ICE immigration agency under Trump, denied raids in Chicago in an interview with the Washington Post. Nothing has been decided yet. “We are looking at this indiscretion and will then make a decision on this basis,” he told the newspaper. “It’s unfortunate because anyone who breaches security agency operations exposes their employees to greater risks.”

However, he himself confirmed that the immigration authorities were likely to take action almost immediately after the change of power in the USA. ICE will use arrests “from day one” to address threats to public and national security, Homan told the newspaper. “We will arrest people all over the country, unhindered by any policies of previous administrations. Why exactly Chicago was mentioned, I don’t know.” It’s not just individual parts of the city that are being combed. “We have a targeted plan to see this through.”

Trump: “It starts very quickly, very quickly”

In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump said mass deportations of undocumented migrants would be his top priority. He did not name a date for the implementation of his plans or a specific city. “It starts very quickly, very quickly,” Trump said. “We have to get the criminals out of the country.”

The New York Times wrote that the exact extent of the operation had not yet been determined, but that volunteers had already been sought in the ranks of the security authorities. According to the Wall Street Journal, up to 200 ICE employees will be deployed in Chicago.

Around 23 percent of migrants live irregularly in the USA

There is an increase in crime in some areas of the USA where many migrants live. However, experts attribute this to complex socio-political circumstances. There is no evidence of a crime wave caused by migrants, nor that this group commits significantly more crimes than natives.

A total of 47.8 million migrants lived in the United States in 2023 – most of them legally. This corresponds to 14.3 percent of the total population. Around 23 percent entered the USA irregularly or overstayed their visas. Of these estimated eleven million people, around three million enjoy temporary protection, for example because their asylum procedures are ongoing, there is violence in their home countries or they came to the USA as children before 2007 and therefore different rules apply.