Millions of Illegal Immigrants to be Deported From United States, Trump Says

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
June 18, 2019Politics
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Millions of Illegal Immigrants to be Deported From United States, Trump Says
The people apprehended consist mainly of families and unaccompanied minors from Central America. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

President Donald Trump said that “millions of illegal aliens” would be deported soon by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Next week ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in,” Trump announced on Twitter.

The exact number of illegal immigrants in the United States is not known since some of the aliens enter the country without notifying authorities. Other categories of illegal aliens include visa overstays. Yale researchers said last year that up to 29 million illegal aliens may live in the country, a figure contested by some experts. Other sources, such as the left-leaning Pew Research Center, have estimated that as few as 10.5 million illegal immigrants are present in the country.

The president then praised Mexican authorities for stepping up after he threatened them with tariffs if they didn’t do more to combat the flood of migrants who pass through the country.

“Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people long before they get to our Southern Border,” Trump said.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters on June 14 that the country was forming a new National Guard force by June 30, 6,000 of which would be stationed at Mexico’s southern border.

The National Guard will be formed from members of Mexico’s version of its Coast Guard, federal police, and its army.

The National Institute of Migration said on June 16 that 1,000 officers have already been deployed “in the north and the south of Mexico.”

Obrador speaks at news conference
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, on April 15, 2019. (Edgard Garrido/Reuters)

Trump on Twitter late Monday also announced that the United States is close to reaching an agreement with Guatemala that would make the country a “Safe-Third” country, just hours after his administration announced it would be withholding millions of dollars in foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

A “Safe-Third” designation would make Guatemala an agreed upon safe place for migrants passing through the country seeking asylum and make them ineligible for asylum in the United States.

“Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement,” Trump said. He then hit out at the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives and the Democrats in the Senate, writing: “The only ones who won’t do anything are the Democrats in Congress. They must vote to get rid of the loopholes, and fix asylum! If so, Border Crisis will end quickly!”

Hondurans and others in a migrant caravan move toward the United States
Hondurans and others in a migrant caravan move toward the United States in Chiquimula, Guatemala on Oct. 17, 2018. (Orlando Estrada/AFP/Getty Images)

On March 29, Trump told reporters that he ordered foreign aid to be cut from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The State Department said it conducted a review following the president’s order and determined that the three countries are not doing enough to curb migration to the United States.

“We will not provide new funds for programs in those countries until we are satisfied the Northern Triangle governments are taking concrete actions to reduce the number of illegal migrants coming to the U.S. border,” said a spokesperson for the State Department.

“This is consistent with the president’s direction and with the recognition that it is critical that there be sufficient political will in these countries to address the problem at its source.”

Epoch Times reporters Charlotte Cuthbertson and Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times

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