The Atlantic

The Contradictory Claims About Trump's Deportation Plan

The president has said his administration is targeting “really bad dudes,” but his policy targets people who haven't been charged or convicted of anything.
Source: John Moore / Getty

“Really bad dudes.”

That’s what President Trump called the undocumented immigrants his administration intends to remove, but so far, his orders have indicated otherwise.

Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security issued new rules on which undocumented immigrants should be considered a priority for deportation. The memos include instructions to prioritize undocumented immigrants who are charged, but not necessarily convicted of a crime, as well as those who are said to have “committed” an act that could be charged as a crime. That criteria massively expands the number of undocumented immigrants considered a priority for deportation, including those who may have committed no crime at all. The memo also includes requests for the hiring of 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and 5,000 more Customs and Border Protection agents.

Today, there are roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living. But funding to put some of the administration’s plans in place is complicated and could delay its execution.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Hayao Miyazaki’s Anti-war Fantasia
Once, in a windowless conference room, I got into an argument with a minor Japanese-government official about Hayao Miyazaki. This was in 2017, three years after the director had announced his latest retirement from filmmaking. His final project was
The Atlantic7 min readAmerican Government
The Americans Who Need Chaos
This is Work in Progress, a newsletter about work, technology, and how to solve some of America’s biggest problems. Sign up here. Several years ago, the political scientist Michael Bang Petersen, who is based in Denmark, wanted to understand why peop
The Atlantic5 min read
The Strangest Job in the World
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The role of first lady couldn’t be stranger. You attain the position almost by accident, simply by virtue of being married to the president

Related Books & Audiobooks