American authorities have expelled more than 270,000 people in one year, according to official estimates published on December 19, a few weeks before Donald Trump’s return to power, the Republican threatening to send back millions of undocumented migrants. This number of deportations – the last of the Joe Biden era – is the highest in the last decade, including during the first Trump presidency (2017-2021).
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Most of the migrants forced to leave the United States had crossed the border with Mexico illegally, assured in his report the agency responsible for border control and immigration (ICE). Around a third of them had been charged or convicted by the courts. for criminal activity », specifies the text. These estimates cover the period from the beginning of October 2023 to the end of September 2024, at the time of the presidential campaign. Donald Trump had then made the fight against illegal immigration his main hobbyhorse.
The former real estate mogul has promised to carry out the largest eviction operation in the history of UNITED STATES after his return to the White House on January 20, 2025. A threat which raises serious concerns among the NGO for the defense of migrants. This promise, which relies on the unfounded claim that migrants commit more crimes than American citizens, has proven popular with the American electorate.
11 million undocumented immigrants in 2022
On the other hand, Donald Trump has not specified how to implement such a policy and analyzes suggest that these operations would be costly and difficult to carry out with current staffing levels. “ Every year, our teams face enormous challenges – but every year, they rise above them said ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner.
Illegal crossings at the U.S. border jumped as Democrat took power Joe Biden at the beginning of 2021 but have decreased significantly this last year, after the administration tightened the asylum procedure.
About 11 million people were undocumented in the United States in 2022, according to Pew Research Center estimates. Donald Trump and his allies believe there are actually many more of them. Many illegal immigrants work and pay taxes in the United States, often in low-skilled jobs.
Critics of the future president say that the American economy would suffer from a massive expulsion of these undocumented workers, creating labor shortages in agriculture or the construction world, for example. Economists estimate, for their part, that such shortages would push prices up, thus threatening candidate Trump’s other flagship promise: reducing inflation.
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