The challenge of carrying out President-elect Trump’s pledge to deport 11 million undocumented migrants in the U.S. is more complicated than it may seem, according to a former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
John Sandweg, who served under the Obama administration, points to a key obstacle: securing enough staffing and funding from Congress.
In an interview with NewsNation, Sandweg explained that Trump would require a larger ICE workforce to fulfill his promise. “This will necessitate substantial appropriations from Congress,” he emphasized.
Trump’s deportation plan faces practical roadblocks, says ex-ICE leader
Additionally, Sandweg noted the need for a vast number of “detention beds,” which he described as a far more challenging task to implement than it might initially appear.
The former ICE official also stressed that the current state of the U.S. immigration system presents a major hurdle. “There are backlogs in the immigration courts. The Supreme Court has ruled that migrants are entitled to due process before being deported,” he said. This, Sandweg added, would compel Trump to figure out a way to bypass the courts entirely.
Reflecting on the campaign, Sandweg expressed doubt that the Trump team had a concrete strategy to address these challenges. “I don’t think they had a clear road map for overcoming these challenges during the campaign,” he admitted.
Throughout his campaign, Trump frequently promoted his “Day 1 agenda,” which centered on aggressive border and immigration policies, repeatedly stating, “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.”
When asked about the cost of his proposed plan in an NBC News interview, Trump dismissed the question, asserting that “there is no price tag.”
