Athira Sethu
Kochi, 21 January 2025
Millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., about 725,000 Indians, are worried with Donald Trump returning to the White House for a second term. He plans to up the ante in deporting illegal immigrants, now using stronger methods either by land or air.
He vowed to take the strongest action ever in controlling immigration, pledging during his inauguration speech that “we will stop illegal immigration once and for all. We will not be invaded or overrun. We will be a free and proud nation again.”
Indians are the third biggest group of undocumented migrants in the U.S., after Mexico and El Salvador. About 11 to 14 million people live without proper documentation in the United States, but half of them are allowed to stay temporarily with protections from previous U.S. presidents.
His strategy will first deport those with charges or convictions-655,000 people. Second, he’ll target the 1.4 million who already have deportation orders. It is going to take hundreds of flights to deport those individuals.
In fact, there is the fear of more than six million immigrants whose deportation cases are in progress or still in hold. Asylum seekers, temporary protection beneficiaries, and children under DACA-all of whom entered the United States as children-are among them.
Trump vows to put an end to illegal immigration overnight and start deporting criminal immigrants. He will reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, “catch and release” on halt, and troops deployed to the southern border. He promises to label the drug cartels as terrorist organizations and force law enforcement out to cut the foreign gangs and vicious criminal networks.
Trump insists on his responsibility to safeguard the country from attacks and invasions, saying he will do everything within his power to protect the nation.
