President-elect Donald Trump has unveiled ambitious plans to address illegal immigration, including deporting millions of undocumented immigrants and ending birthright citizenship. In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump announced that he would declare illegal immigration a national emergency upon taking office on January 20. He reiterated his intention to remove all unauthorized immigrants over his four-year term.
As of January 2022, more than 11 million people were estimated to be living in the U.S. without legal status, a number likely higher today. While Trump maintained his tough stance on immigration, he expressed a willingness to negotiate protections for “Dreamers” — immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. His prior attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was blocked by the Supreme Court.
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Trump also plans to issue an executive order on his first day in office to end birthright citizenship, a policy rooted in the 14th Amendment and upheld by a 1898 Supreme Court ruling, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Acknowledging potential legal challenges, Trump suggested that a constitutional amendment might be necessary.
These measures would require substantial financial resources. Deporting all unauthorized immigrants is estimated to cost around $88 billion annually, with Trump’s team advocating for significant funding increases for enforcement efforts. Additionally, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to deporting undocumented immigrants, including those with U.S. citizen family members.
The plan also faces significant logistical challenges. The U.S. immigration system already has a backlog of 3.7 million court cases, and analysts predict it could take up to 16 years to clear the backlog under Trump’s mass deportation strategy. This would require major investments in infrastructure, including the expansion of detention centers, at a cost potentially ranging from $150 billion to $350 billion.
