Migration policy: Trump’s first deportations and the game with fear

President Donald Trump’s new US government is driving the arrest and deportation of migrants without a residence permit. The responsible police and immigration authority ICE reported that 538 people were arrested on Thursday alone. The spokeswoman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, wrote on the platform X that the Trump government has also deprived “hundreds of illegal immigrants with military aircraft”.

So far, the actions have remained behind what Trump and his people had announced as a never -ending deportation program. What is new, however, is that Trump tenses the military for deportation fees. And one thing has already succeeded: Immigrants are very afraid that they have to leave the country.

Rather average numbers

Trump said about the arrests and initial deportation frequencies of his term: “We get the bad, hard criminals out. These are murderers. These are people who are as bad as you can be (…). We get them out first . ”

The Republican had promised almost every day in the election campaign that he would start “the biggest deportation program in American history” on the first day in office. His spokeswoman Leavitt now wrote: “The greatest mass killing campaign in history is in full swing.”

So far, however, the numbers have not been significantly higher than that of the recent past: The ICE authority had reported more than 170,000 arrests for the budget year 2023 – still under the then democratic President Joe Biden, an average of around 467 a day.

In the budget year 2024 there were fewer: more than 113,000 arrests, and thus an average of 311 a day. According to official information, Trump’s team also started on this size.

According to the man that Trump used for the supervision for the planned “mass deportation”, Tom Homan, there was 308 arrests from migrants without a residence permit the day after Trump’s swearing -in. Homan had promised Greatly in front of Trump’s head of office that actions were to be expected in the first few days of the Trump Presidency that would cause “shock and awe”.

Pictures of men with chains on hands and feet

US media had reported before Trump took office that shortly after his swearing-in, the first major raids were planned in various cities. The name for the campaign “Operation Safeguard” (Operation Protection Measure) and should take a week, it said. It had been expected that Trump would publicly instruct large missions of this kind to set an example – also in the direction of its base. In the past few days, however, Trump’s government with information on the arrest and deportation campaigns has been remarkable, and the situation is confusing.

So far, only smaller arrest actions have been known, which, however, are part of everyday life. Among other things, the Trump-Nahne broadcaster Fox News showed pictures of a raid in the city of Boston, in which several criminal migrants were arrested. This is also part of the routine of the law enforcement authorities.

What is new, on the other hand, is that military machines are used for deportation fees. Trump’s spokeswoman Leavitt spread two pictures to the announcement of the deportation flights, which show how a series of men with chains on hands and feet ran on a military machine. She wrote: “President Trump sends a strong and clear message to the whole world: Anyone who illegally unites the United States of America must count on serious consequences.”

Trump tense various ministries and authorities

The new president has instructed various ministries to fully support his deportation plans and to provide personnel and equipment. For example, hundreds of additional US soldiers should support border guards on the border with Mexico. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is intended to ensure that returns to countries of origin are possible. And law enforcement agencies, which are actually not responsible for enforcing immigration laws, should now also be able to act against illegal immigrants.

Trump’s homeland protection consultant Stephen Miller, who is considered the architect of the restrictive immigration policy, spoke of a “comprehensive, coordinated cross -government operation to defend the home country and ward off the invasion”. “We will use the entire government machine to stop the cartels to stop the smugglers to prevent human smugglers from hunting our citizens and exploiting our country,” said Miller at Fox News.

Trump also allowed the ICE authority to arrest migrants without valid papers in sensitive places such as churches, schools or hospitals – a departure from the protection regulations that were bidden under its democratic predecessor. All the precautions and announcements have triggered great uncertainty and fear in communities with a high proportion of migrants. That should be part of the plan.