(This article originally appeared on the RVIVR blog)
One of the major campaign promises of the Trump 2024 presidential campaign was the “mass deportation” of illegal aliens in the United States. During rallies and campaign stops all over the country, President Trump and campaign surrogates told the American people that his future administrations would deport millions of illegal aliens out of the United States.
Trump: "We will achieve complete and total victory over these sadistic monsters. We will reclaim our territory. And we will put the cartels quickly out of business. Immediately upon taking the oath of office I will launch the largest deportation program in American history." pic.twitter.com/WhHozOHlQu
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 24, 2024
“We’re gonna deport them at a level like nobody’s ever seen“: President Trump reaffirms pledge to kick criminal aliens out of the United States pic.twitter.com/iRwEC3F8nx
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) July 31, 2024
You heard that correctly. We were promised the “largest deportation program in American history.” This promise was well-received among the American people. After all, the border crisis had become one of the key issues of the 2024 election cycle.
According to the US Customs and Border Protection, over 10 million aliens have entered the United States under the Biden administration. Illegal aliens from all over the world have poured into country–committing violent crimes, trafficking children, and delivering dangerous drugs into the American heartland.
The last major deportation program in American history took place under the Eisenhower administration in 1954. The Eisenhower administration deported over 1.3 million illegal aliens from Mexico.
Sounds good at face value, right? Now that President Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, many voters are now expecting to see mass deportations following Trump’s inauguration next week.
Well, not so fast. Trump’s own “border czar” Tom Homan is now reportedly telling Republican Congressmen in private to “temper their expectations” concerning mass importations.
Even worse, many major Republican elected officials–including Senate Majority leader John Thune, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and House Speaker Mike Johnson–have repeatedly walked back promises of mass deportations in recent months.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune casts doubt on Trump’s pledge to deport all illegals.
— AF Post (@AFpost) January 6, 2025
“Is it realistic to deport everybody? I mean, there's a lot of people in this country who are here illegally.”
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/qncZJ3wLTl
Notable – Mike Johnson on CNN walks back Trump's promise to deport as many as 20m people, saying "I'm not sure that's what's gonna happen. I think what the president is talking about is beginning w/the dangerous persons that we know are here. There are criminals, known criminals" pic.twitter.com/jenG3GBbsM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 17, 2024
Unfortunately, the second Trump administration is already repeating the same mistakes of the first administration. We didn’t get a border wall in the first Trump term, and now it looks like we won’t get mass deportations in the second term.
The time for excuses is over. The Republican politicians constantly betray their constituents on the core campaign promises that their voters wholeheartedly support.
Instead of mass deportations, we may actually get more “mass immigration” in a second Trump term. While Joe Biden gave us mass illegal immigration over the past four years, Donald Trump’s Silicon Valley donors–such as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy–are calling for mass legal immigration to the United States. In fact, Donald Trump sided with Elon Musk in the recent H-1B visa debate on social media.
However, Trump’s newfound support of H-1B visas runs counter to his criticism of the H-1B visa program during the 2016 presidential election cycle.
Trump:
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 29, 2024
"I know the H1-B very well, I shouldn't be allowed to use it. We shouldn't have it. It is very, very bad and unfair for our workers and it should be ended" pic.twitter.com/04yWzJktnq
“Megyn Kelly asked about highly-skilled immigration. The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay. I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions.” – Donald Trump (March 2016)
Both major political parties have sold out the American people and the American worker when it comes to the issue of immigration.
Now, we may see the second Trump administration make some minor improvements to the current illegal immigration crisis in America. However, recent statements made by President Trump, his political allies, and his donors should remind us that mass deportations are not likely a major priority for the incoming administration. Instead, we’ll just got more of the same old “America Last” immigration policies that benefit globalist corporations and harm the American worker.
Nathan Koenig is a frequent contributor to RVIVR.com, a national conservative political site affiliated with The Hayride. Follow his writing on the Louisiana First Standard Substack, on Twitter (X) @LAFirstStandard, on Tik Tok @la.first.standard & on Instagram @lafirststandard. Email him here: louisianafirststandard@proton.me
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