Donald Trump, the Republican presidential hopeful, declared his intention to carry out the “largest deportation in history” if he returns to the White House, during a heated discussion with Elon Musk on X Spaces.
Trump criticized the Biden administration’s handling of immigration and vowed to remove millions of undocumented immigrants, claiming they include criminals and terrorists from across the globe.
In a conversation with tech mogul Elon Musk, former President Donald Trump made sweeping promises regarding immigration policy should he be re-elected in 2024. Trump outlined his plan for what he termed “the largest deportation in history,” focusing on the removal of undocumented immigrants whom he described as a significant threat to national security.
“We’re going to have the largest deportation in history of this country. And we have no choice,” Trump asserted, painting a dire picture of the current state of the US under President Joe Biden’s leadership. He suggested that other countries, including Venezuela, had already reduced crime by deporting their “really bad people” to the United States.
“Venezuela has not gotten rid of all of them. They’ve gotten rid of about 70% of their really bad people. Their jails are about 50% put into the United States,” he claimed, implying that the US has become a dumping ground for the world’s criminals.
Trump further expanded his critique, alleging that over 20 million people had entered the country under Biden, many of whom he claimed were released from jails, prisons, and mental institutions around the world. “I believe it’s over 20 million people came into the country, many coming from jails, from prisons, from mental institutions, a bigger version of that is insane asylums and many are terrorists,” Trump said, without providing specific evidence to support these numbers.
The former president also criticized the current administration’s stance on international relations and security, particularly in the wake of the October 7th attacks on Israel. He suggested that migrants from regions involved in the conflict are entering the United States, further heightening the security risks.
“They’re coming from all over the world. They’re coming from Asia, they’re coming from the Middle East, they’re coming from countries that are stupidly and horribly bombing Israel,” Trump stated.
Trump’s remarks are likely to galvanize his core supporters, who have long advocated for stricter immigration controls. However, they also risk drawing criticism from both domestic and international observers concerned about the implications of such a mass deportation strategy.