Trump Kicks Off 2020 Campaign By Announcing ICE Will Be Deporting 'Millions'

On the day of his self-declared presidential campaign kickoff, President Trump is threatening to deport "millions" of immigrants in the United States illegally beginning "next week."

But what's known is far less definitive.

The administration is predicting that with increased help from Mexico, it will have more bed space at detention centers. So the administration is planning to prioritize going after recent arrivals who have not been showing up to court, according to an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security.

The enforcement action is not for people who have been in the country long term but is more focused on the people who just got to the country and skipped court dates.

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. Mexico, using their strong immigration laws, is doing a very good job of stopping people.......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019

....long before they get to our Southern Border. Guatemala is getting ready to sign a Safe-Third Agreement. 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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, who is in regular discussions with the administration, said people have been led to believe that if they arrive with a child, they will be able to stay. She said that won't be the case under this new plan.

"It's not like the president just woke up and thought of this idea," Vaughan said. "They've been laying the groundwork for this already. What they've been doing has not been successful, so they're going to be trying something new. And they're going to be focused on people who already have a final order of removal. And they also want people to understand that family cases are on the table."

There are more than 1 million immigrants in the U.S. with orders of deportation who have not been removed, according to an administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the policy, noting that "countless" numbers of people are skipping court hearings and "absconding from federal proceedings."

"Prince Pombo Mafumba...a political science professor, Mafumba left the Congo three years ago...He stayed in Brazil for 2 1/2 years, got married and had a daughter." And he's now a "refugee" in Maine. https://t.co/r89bsvp3uR

— Andrew Smith (@AndrewSmithClub) June 17, 2019