After signalling a softer line in recent days, Donald Trump has reverted to his aggressive stance on immigration, issuing a 10-point agenda that rejects any amnesty or legalisation path for America’s 11 million illegal immigrants and vows to deport an estimated two million aliens with a criminal background.
Unveiling his immigration agenda soon after a surprise visit to Mexico, Trump also doubled down on his plan to build “a great wall along the southern border”, professing: “Mexico will pay for the wall. 100 per cent.” But hours before, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had told him point blank that his country would do nothing of the kind.
Trump said that, as President, he would create a new special “Deportation Task Force” within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency “focused on identifying and quickly removing the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens in America”. He said he would hire 5,000 more border patrol agents and expand the number of border patrol stations.
The only sign of softening in Trump’s harsh rhetoric delivered before a large crowd of hardcore supporters in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday evening was the absence of his “mass deportation” prescription for all the 11 million illegal immigrants by preferring to use the term only for criminal aliens.
But then, Trump not only ruled out any new amnesty move or path for legalization for them, but went on to say: “We will immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties, in which he defied federal law and the constitution to give amnesty to approximately 5 million illegal immigrants.”
That apart, Trump declared that “anyone who is in the United States illegally is subject to deportation”. He also stuck to his line that illegal immigrants seeking legal status will have to return to their home country and apply for re-entry under the rules of the new legal immigration system. “Our message to the world will be this: you cannot obtain legal status, or become a citizen of the United States, by illegally entering our country,” he said.
Commenting on his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s plan, Trump said she has not only “pledged to keep both of these (Obama’s) illegal amnesty programmes” but has “also pledged to add a third executive amnesty”. At one point, he went to the extent of suggesting that Clinton, like the criminal aliens, was fit to be deported.
While there was no clarity on the number of criminal aliens, a Migration Policy Institute study has said about 690,000 undocumented immigrants have committed significant crimes — felonies or serious misdemeanors. But another projection by the right-wing Centre for Immigration Studies that has been relied upon by the Trump campaign puts this number at nearly two million.
As Trump made the Mexican sojourn earlier on Wednesday and held what appeared to have been a fairly cordial meeting with President Pena Nieto, analysts had expected him to soften his overall immigration proposals in line with the moderation he himself had indicated in some of his campaign outings over the past week.
But Trump poured cold water on all such expectations within minutes of taking the podium in Phoenix. In an aggressive defence of his hard-line proposals, Trump asserted: “This election is our last chance to secure the border, stop illegal immigration, and reform our laws to make your life better.”
Outlining his pet wall project, Trump declared: “On day one (as President), we will begin working on an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border. We will use the best technology, including above-and below-ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance and manpower to supplement the wall, find and dislocate tunnels, and keep out the criminal cartels, and Mexico will pay for the wall.”
But the Mexican president made his intentions clear in a Twitter post, saying: “At the start of the conversation with Donald Trump, I made it clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall.” During a joint news conference after the meeting, Trump had claimed that the payment issue was not discussed.
The Clinton campaign was quick to mock Trump, arguing that his performance in Mexico proved that his tough guy image was just an act.
“Donald Trump has made his outlandish policy of forcing Mexico to pay for his giant wall the centerpiece of his campaign. But at the first opportunity to make good on his offensive campaign promises, Trump choked,” Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement.