TOI correspondent from Washington: Millions of undocumented immigrants in the US, including some 725,000 Indians, are holding their breath as MAGA supremo Donald Trump is returned to the White House on Monday for a second term with an even stronger nativist agenda that will put illegal aliens on the road or flight back home.
After taking oath of office in the cosy Capitol rotunda at noon amid bone-chilling cold outside with temperature below -4C (-11C with windchill) Trump turned the heat on illegal immigrants with a series of executive orders that he pledged in a preview on Sunday “will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders the world has ever seen.”
“We will stop illegal immigration once and for all. We will not be invaded, we will not be occupied, we will not be overrun, we will not be conquered. We will be a free and proud nation once again and that will take place tomorrow at 12 o’clock,” Trump said at a rally in a Washington DC arena where he gave a glimpse his oft-cited “Day One” agenda.
Indians form the third largest cohort of undocumented immigrants in US at 725,000, next only to Mexico (4 million) and El Salvador (750,000).
Few expect the nation’s estimated 11 million to 14 million undocumented or temporarily-documented aliens to be rounded up in what will be a logistically challenging task. Nearly half of them have some current authorization to live or work legally in the US through protections mandated by the last three US Presidents aside from Trump — Biden, Obama, and Bush.
But Trump, who at various times has put the number of illegal immigrants between 20m and 25m and called it an invasion, has pledged to first round up those with criminal charges or convictions, numbering 655,000, before turning on the 1.4 million who have been served deportation orders after legal process.
Of them, only 40,000 are in custody. Deporting even this lot will require some 150 flights. Rounding up those who have already been served deportation order will require more than 5000 flights.
Fear is now coursing through more than six million immigrants whose deportations are pending or paused in legal proceedings.
This lot includes another five million, including 2.6 million asylum seekers, 1.1 million with temporary protective status, 850,000 on humanitarian parole from countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, and 540,000 DACA protectees, undocumented people brought into the country as children.
Many prospective deportees are rushing to attorneys specializing in pro-bono work and to churches for protection amid impending federal action in so-called “sanctuary cities,” like Chicago and New York. The action will pit the Trump administration against mostly liberal, Democrat-run cities and states.
Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan has warned city and state officials that they will be face felony charges of harboring illegal immigrants if they protect the potential deportees.
More than half the 11m undocumented immigrants have been in the US for more than ten years. Some immigrants without legal status have been designating power of attorney to trusted friends and making plans for childcare in case of separations. Some are reported to be self-deporting the face of threats from incoming Trump officials like Homan, whose warnings has now filtered down and being relayed by local Republican officials to illegal immigrants.
On Sunday, Grady Judd, a Sheriff in Polk County, Florida, whipped out a placard at a press conference urging illegal immigrants in the state avoid a “lot of prison sentence” by self-deporting.
“Southbound and Down!” the poster read.