TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATIONS PLAN PROMPTS HONDURAS TO THREATEN US MILITARY BASES
As the election ended, President-elect Donald Trump confirmed his plans to declare a national emergency and to put his promise into action. The nationwide Trump mass deportations will target the migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission. He responded to a social media post that the incoming administration would use military assets to deport the migrants, and he responded with a firm "TRUE!!!."
Donald Trump had pledged that he would start mass deportations as soon as he entered office. He even added that on Day 1, he will be conducting the most extensive displacement program in American history to remove the criminals from the U.S. In addition to this, Trump is committed to enlisting the U.S. military to fully support mass deportations, with a guarantee that they can do everything they want as long as it is within the law.
Trump Mass Deportations and Military Involvement
Trump claimed that illegal immigration amounted to an invasion that needed to be stopped when he was questioned about a U.S. statute that normally forbids the use of the military in domestic law enforcement. He shared this sentiment when he was interviewed by Time Magazine for the "Person of the Year" feature. He added that he is willing to go as far as he is allowed to go, according to the laws of the country.
Trump won the elections in November even with his rhetoric about portraying immigrants as dangerous criminals and vowing a broad crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration. He intends to declare a national emergency to release cash for enforcement and mobilize resources from around the federal government for the deportation campaign.
Although they have not been deployed to make immigration arrests, National Guard personnel have been used by both the Republican and Democratic administrations to support the U.S. Border Patrol along the Mexican border.
Trump's new border czar, Tom Homan, told Fox News that the government intends to utilize the military in a similar support role for the deportation campaign. They are also asking for the help of the Department of Defense in a lot of areas, such as transportation and infrastructure building, intelligence, and targeting. In addition to this, they are allowing a sworn immigration officer with immigration authority to make those arrests.
Trump stated that his government would work overtime to deport immigrants as soon as possible. This will reduce the need for camps or other locations, but he did not rule out the construction of new detention facilities to accommodate those who are awaiting deportation.
Deportation Efforts and Potential Economic and Social Impacts
During his four-year administration, Trump’s mass deportation will be a major project that will impact millions of families and harm industries like agriculture that depend on those workers. According to a Department of Homeland Security assessment, there were an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2022.
This number has probably increased in recent years because of the need for more manpower and the increasing demand for cheap labor. Removing all undocumented immigrants would cost almost a trillion dollars over more than ten years, according to the pro-immigration American Immigration Council.
During his tenure in government from 2017 to 2021, Trump even found it difficult to expand deportations, so it will pose the same challenge now that he is back in the White House. On the other hand, President Joe Biden deported more immigrants in 2023 than any of Trump’s years as the president. This includes those deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and those more casually returned to Mexico by U.S. border officials.
Mass deportations may lead to a rise in employment for the least educated individuals who may otherwise be vying for jobs with undocumented immigrants. This might be Trump’s intention; however, a number of variables contribute to the overall negative impact on the economy and labor market.
One is that employment in industries where native American workers are less inclined to look for work, such as construction, child care, and elder care, is primarily filled by undocumented immigrants. These industries will now be in danger of lacking manpower once Trump's mass deportation happens.
The industries where illegal immigrants primarily find work are essential to the U.S. economy, which is primarily driven by the service sector rather than manufacturing or agriculture.
The abrupt removal of millions of people may also have an effect on local economies since fewer people would be dining at neighborhood eateries and spending money on products and services offered by local companies.
Honduras Threatens US Military Bases Over Trump's Plan
Honduras has threatened to shut-down US military bases in the country if Trump decides to carry out his mass deportation plan. President Xiomara Castro has said that they would consider "a change in our policies of cooperation with the United States, especially in the military arena," in the face of "unnecessry reprisals against our migrants."
This move marks the first sign of international pushback in response to Trump's plan. President Xiomara Castro has cautioned that she would consider ending military cooperation with the U.S. if Trump follows through with his mass deportation plan.
In a statement released on New Year's Day she stated, "Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to consider a change in our policies of cooperation with the United States, especially in the military arena, where, without paying a cent for decades, they maintain military bases in our territory, which in this case would lose all reason to exist in Honduras."
"We hope that the new U.S. administration of democratically elected President Donald Trump will be open to dialogue, constructive and friendly, and will not take unnecessary reprisals against our migrants, who normally make a great contribution to the U.S. economy," she added.
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