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Border agents pick up migrants suspected of entering the United States near Granjeno, Texas, during Trump’s first term.
1 / 3Photo: Eric Gay/AP/TT
Donald Trump has promised a tougher crackdown on undocumented migrants. Millions of people are to be deported and fewer are to be allowed into the United States.
People smugglers hail the president-elect’s plans and believe in booming business.
– We are eagerly waiting for January 20 when the business can start again and we can start earning a little more dollars.
The human smuggler who speaks out has been taking undocumented migrants, mainly from Central America and the Caribbean, to the United States in recent years. It has been about 30 people a week, he says himself. But since a few years he has lost 80 percent of the income because the US has allowed people to apply for asylum at the border via an app. This has led to a decrease in demand for his services.
Better times are ahead for the people smugglers, he and thousands of others believe, because Trump has said the app should go away.
– They say they will close the border, but we always find a hole where we can sneak people through. They cannot close the entire border, it is impossible, the man told the Thompson Reuters Foundation site Context.
“No Choice”
January 20th is the day Donald Trump is sworn in as President of the United States for a second time. One of his election promises is that more undocumented people should be prevented from entering the United States. People who have managed to enter the US – but do not have the correct documents – are to be deported.
How the deportations will take place has not been announced in detail, but Trump has not ruled out calling in the military if deemed necessary. What the entire effort will cost is also unclear, according to the incoming president, there is no price tag.
– Really not, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, then they should go back to their countries because they should not be here, he said in November.
Families can be torn apart
About 5.1 million children who are US citizens live with an undocumented family member, according to the lobbying organization American Immigration Council. Now, with Trump becoming president once again, many are trying to prepare for a future where families can be torn apart by mass deportations.
Lillie is an American citizen and has been married to an undocumented man from Honduras for ten years. She recently arranged for their children, who were born in the United States, to obtain their American passports in the event that her husband was deported.
– If something happens and my husband is detained or deported, it would be very difficult for me to get passports for my children, our children, to be able to leave the country to see him, she told NBC News.
The husband was detained for two months in 2017, when Trump was president the last time. According to Lillie, her husband has been clear that if it happens again, he does not want to stay and fight, but just leave the United States.
– He does not want to be detained again, she says.
Preparatory role play
Migration lawyers and activists are also preparing to best meet Trump’s promised deportations. Tips are spread, among other things, about collecting important documents in a safe place, seeking legal help and avoiding being scammed online.
The migrant organization Casa arranges well-attended meetings with, among other things, role plays where the participants learn how to act if the immigration authority comes knocking.
– We go through in detail what is needed for your family to be prepared in the event that you are picked up, or if there is an Ice attack at work and you are separated from your children, says Catherine Paul at Casa, writes The Guardian .
According to Tom Homan, responsible for Trump’s promised deportations, parents with children born in the United States will not be protected from deportation. Homan has been given the epithet “border tsar” by Trump. Previously, he was head of the migration and customs authority Ice.
– You know you are in the country illegally and you chose to have children. So you put your family in this situation, he tells The Washington Post.
– We will have to build family facilities. How many beds we will need depends on the statistics.
Business worth billions
But tightening the rules does not deter people from applying to the United States, says Maureen Meyer at the human rights organization Wola (Washington Office on Latin America).
– On the other hand, it feeds money into organized criminal groups, she tells Context.
In 2017, the United Nations agency UNODC estimated that criminal organizations earn upwards of $4.2 billion annually from human trafficking to the United States.
FACT Trump’s immigration promises
US President-elect Donald Trump has said he will launch the “largest deportation in US history”, deporting millions of undocumented migrants. It may also be relevant to use the local police and the national guard.
He has also promised to reintroduce the controversial entry ban from mainly certain Muslim countries.
At the same time, Trump has said that it may be appropriate to hand out work and residence permits to foreign nationals who take college degrees.
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