President-elect Donald Trump stated on Sunday that he plans to deport U.S. citizens as part of his broader immigration strategy aimed at removing undocumented immigrants. He described mixed-immigration families—those with undocumented immigrants and children who are U.S. citizens—as collateral in his efforts to enforce strict immigration policies.
Speaking on *Meet the Press* with Kristen Welker, Trump emphasized his goal of avoiding the family separation issues that occurred during his first administration. However, he argued that keeping these families together would require sending all members, including U.S. citizen children, back to their countries of origin.
“I don’t want to break up families,” Trump said. “So the only way to keep families together is to send them all back.”
Trump acknowledged that his plan would likely face significant opposition but insisted it was necessary to uphold the rule of law.
“You can always find problems with any plan, but the real issue will come when we have to take someone who is a criminal, and the public sees them being removed,” Trump said. “We have to do our job and enforce our laws. Our country is a mess, and we need standards.”
Trump’s first administration introduced a controversial family-separation policy in 2017 as part of its “zero tolerance” immigration strategy, drawing widespread criticism. Tom Homan, who will serve as the incoming “border czar,” has indicated that this policy will be reinstated, stating that families “can be deported together.” Trump expressed his support for this approach on Sunday.
Additionally, Trump reiterated his commitment to ending birthright citizenship on his first day in office. He vowed to find a way to bypass the 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to children born on U.S. soil.
“We’ll have to change it,” he said. “We may need to go directly to the people to make this happen, but it must end.”
Related topics:
- Trump’s Mass Deportation Plans Target Immigrants Who Came to the U.S. Legally
- Missouri Bill Introduces Stricter Penalties for Undocumented Immigrants, Including Bounty Program
- Florida’s Immigration Crackdown Leaves Migrants and Citizens Struggling, Study Reveals
