JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Since the start of his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump appealed to millions of voters by vowing to conduct the “largest deportation in American history,” and implement other immigration changes and restrictions.
That promise resonated among voters, who according to several polls, viewed immigration as one of the top three issues during this election.
Recommended Videos
In an exclusive interview aired on Dec. 8 with NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Trump made it clear that he is planning to start his crackdown on immigration on day one.
RELATED | Trump says he can’t guarantee tariffs won’t raise US prices and won’t rule out revenge prosecutions
Jacksonville-based immigration attorney Vilerka Bilbao told News4JAX that while some of Trump’s proposed measures would be easy to implement on his first day in office, others may take time and could face some legal challenges.
Here’s a breakdown of the biggest immigration changes that could come under Trump’s administration.
Deportations
According to the Pew Research Center, there are approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, and one of Trump’s most popular promises involves lowering that number.
Trump has said many times he will conduct mass deportations as soon as he gets into office.
The Trump campaign, asked how his pledge would be carried out, said Trump would begin the largest deportation program in U.S. history, without elaborating in detail.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman, said Trump “would marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers.”
Those who support mass deportations and stricter immigration laws argue these measures are necessary because the border crisis has brought “drugs, violence, and disorder” to American communities.
“We’re starting with the criminals, and we got to do it. And then we’re starting with others, and we’re going to see how it goes,” Trump said during the interview with NBC News.
Bilbao also said some people might have a higher risk of deportation than others.
“This last administration has been really good at making sure that they’re keeping tabs on the people who are coming in,” Bilbao said. “They have a legal process. If all of those individuals lose their cases, or a big chunk of them will lose their cases in court, then they’ll be subject to removal orders, which the government can effectuate,” Bilbao said.
There’s also a large population in the country that has removal orders due to a crime that was committed or because they weren’t able to win their immigration case. Many of those people have been able to stay in the country, and if they haven’t figured out a way to adjust their immigration status, they are also at high risk of being deported, according to Bilbao.
“There’s a big pool of people that they can go try to search for, and that they probably have current information to go find them and try and deport them,” Bilbao said.
While it would likely take a lot of money and effort to conduct a deportation of that magnitude, Bilbao called the plan “feasible.”
“This administration, the Biden administration, has increased funding for additional detention centers. We think that that will happen again with the new Trump administration,” Bilbao said. “They’ll fund more detention centers. And if they have more people detained, then they have a greater capacity to deport them.”
The Alien Enemies Act
While Trump hasn’t shared specific details on how he would accomplish his deportation goals, he has previously said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act to help with deportations.
The Alien Enemies Act is a 1798 law that allows the president to deport any noncitizen from a country that the U.S. is at war with.
However, the sweeping Alien Enemies Act authority may sidestep a law that bans the military from civilian law enforcement.
Bilbao said while it is still unclear exactly how Trump will be carrying out these mass deportations, his first term might give some insight into what’s expected during his second term.
“I think that what happened in the first Trump era is that they went through deportations much faster,” Bilbao said.
Separation of families
In December of last year, a federal judge prohibited the separation of families at the border for eight years, preemptively blocking the resumption of a lightning-rod, Trump-era policy.
The separation of thousands of families “represents one of the most shameful chapters in the history of our country,” U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said moments before approving a settlement between the Justice Department and families represented by the American Civil Liberties Union that ended a legal challenge nearly seven years after it was filed.
READ | Migrant families separated under Trump still feel the fallout and they fear his return to office
Sabraw, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, ordered an end to separations in June 2018, six days after then-President Donald Trump halted them on his own amid intense international backlash.
Despite the federal order, Bilbao said the separation of immigrant families could still be possible under Trump’s new administration. In November, Trump announced that Stephen Miller, best known for his role in crafting immigration policies that led to children being separated from their parents, will be White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
But during the interview with NBC News, Trump said he doesn’t “want to be breaking up families.”
“The only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together, and you have to send them all back,” Trump said.
DACA
Another program with an unclear future, and one that could potentially be highly impactful if suspended, is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA.
As of March 31, 2023, there were 578,680 DACA recipients, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
READ | Immigrants brought to the US as children ask judges to keep protections against deportation
Under this program established in 2012, certain people who came to the country as children and met several guidelines were able to request deferred removal action for two years, subject to renewal. DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” are also eligible to request work authorization.
“There’s definitely going to be an impact in our workforce. There’s so many young people who are eligible for DACA. That’s the only thing that they’ve ever been able to obtain,” Bilbao said.
Trump told NBC News he wants DACA recipients to be able to stay in the country.
“We have to do something about the Dreamers, because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now. They don’t even speak the language of their country,” Trump said. “And yes, we’re going to do something about the Dreamers. I will work with the Democrats on a plan.”
Parole program for Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans
The Biden administration created a parole program for certain countries including Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, providing 30,000 humanitarian paroles every month to people from those four countries.
But, according to Bilbao, this program might be ending soon.
“That program is potentially going to be stopped right on day one,” Bilbao said. “It’s going to be a legal battle whether the people that are waiting in line with applications pending for one or two years are even able to hear a decision on that.”
Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a temporary immigration status that allows some people to stay in the country as their country of origin faces one of the following conditions:
- Ongoing armed conflict (such as civil war)
- An environmental disaster (such as an earthquake or hurricane), or an epidemic
- Other extraordinary and temporary conditions
Once granted TPS, a person also cannot be detained by the Department of Homeland Security on the basis of their immigration status in the U.S.
This program might also be suspended under Trump’s administration, Bilbao said.
“There’s a number of countries from all over the world that we provide temporary protected status. It does not give them a right to jump to a green card or their citizenship unless they have an alternate avenue for relief in immigration. Those programs will likely not be renewed in the future,” Bilbao said.
Bilbao said people who are in the country under the protection of one of these programs will not get deported overnight.
“In order for the government to kick you out, technically you need to have a removal order, which means either you commit a crime and that crime is grave enough that your removal process is relatively fast, or you have some sort of immigration case pending, you lose your case,” Bilbao said.
Birthright citizenship
Under the Fourteenth Amendment, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
This means that a child’s citizenship does not depend on their parents’ immigration or citizenship status. However, Trump has also mentioned he wants to change that to “eliminate major incentive for illegal immigration.”
“As part of my plan to secure the border, on Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship,” Trump said.
But Bilbao said ending birthright citizenship will likely not happen on day one, as it’s expected to face a “big fight” in the federal courts.
“Because you probably need some constitutional changes to get that accomplished. I don’t think that that’s going to be something that they have the authority to do super quickly, especially through, a presidential order. He can definitely put people in place to start that process, but that will probably take years before we see that,” Bilbao said.
Looking ahead
During an interview with Fox News on Dec. 3, Miller said Trump is expected to issue a series of executive orders and actions to halt illegal immigration.
“The President of the United States is going to use every single legal diplomatic and financial tool to halt the entry of all illegal aliens into this country. There will be no benefits, there will be no entry, there will be no asylum, there will be no admission,” Miller said.
While some of the details remain unclear, Bilbao said it is important for people who might be impacted to prepare before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2025.
“It’s very important that you get the correct advice,” Bilbao said. “I’ve seen so many cases of individuals who file things with notaries, think that they’re doing the right thing and really just put themselves in line for deportation. So I think that getting the right help is important and starting your case as soon as possible so that you have documentation that you can provide to immigration if you are stopped.”
What the exact executive orders and actions will be is still unknown. However, one thing is certain: Trump and his cabinet have made clear they will try to deliver on that promise that attracted millions of voters this election.
