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‘You Have to’: Trump Confirms Plan to Deport US Citizens With Undocumented Parents
President-elect Donald Trump confirmed his commitment to ending constitutionally protected birthright citizenship, and initiating the mass deportation of American citizens — including minor children — with at least one undocumented parent, a pledge he emphasized throughout the 2024 campaign.
“I’m talking about parents who might be here illegally, but the kids are here legally,” NBC News’ Kristen Welker told Trump in a “Meet the Press” interview that aired Sunday. NBC News described Trump’s plan as a “mass deportation effort.”
“Your border czar Tom Homan said they can be deported together. Is that the plan?”
“I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back,” Trump said.
“Even kids who are here legally?” Welker asked, suggesting there are around four million families who Trump is saying he would deport.
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“Look, we have to have rules and regulations,” Trump claimed. “You can always find something out like, you know, this doesn’t work, that doesn’t work. I’ll tell you what’s gonna be horrible, when we take a wonderful young woman who’s with a criminal, and they show the woman and she could stay by the law, but they show the woman being taken out, or they want her out and your cameras are focused on her as she’s crying as she’s being taken out of our country, and then the public turns against us. But we have to do our job. And you have to have a series of standards and a series of laws. And in the end, look, our country is a mess.”
HuffPost adds that later in the interview, Trump promised to deport U.S. citizens to countries where they may have never even visited, “humanely.”
“We’ll send the whole family, very humanely, back to the country where they came. That way the family’s not separated,” he said. “The family may decide to say, ‘I’d rather have Dad go, and we’ll stay here.’ And in which case they have that option.”
Welker also said to Trump, “You promised to end birthright citizenship on day one.”
“Correct,” the President-elect replied.
“Is that still your plan?” she asked.
“Yeah. Absolutely,” Trump vowed.
HuffPost also reports that “in the interview, Trump vowed to use an executive action to end birthright citizenship, something that is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.”
“When asked if that’s even possible, he said, ‘Well, we’re going to have to get it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it.’ He incorrectly said that America is the only country to have birthright citizenship — about three dozen countries, including Canada and Mexico, provide birthright citizenship.”
Birthright citizenship means children born in this country are automatically U.S. citizens, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. The 14th Amendment guarantees this right.
Back in September, just days after his lie that migrants from Haiti are “eating the dogs” and “eating the cats” of the residents of Springfield, Ohio, Trump, apparently for the first time, invoked language used by the far-right in Europe to vow he will also forcibly deport millions of legal immigrants from those swing states and the rest of the country if elected President in November.
Trump called for “remigration,” the forceful deportation of immigrants, including those in the U.S. under lawful and unlawful circumstances. He vowed to “end the migrant invasion of America,” and falsely characterized some programs that allow legal entry to the U.S. under law.
Legal experts have said Trump’s plan to deport U.S. citizens is unconstitutional and violates the 14th Amendment, but the ultimate arbiter will likely be the Roberts Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 right-wing majority, including three justices who Trump appointed during his first term. That same court handed Trump sweeping immunity, saying any action a president takes during the course of their duties cannot be prosecuted.
On Friday, before the interview aired, California Attorney General Rob Bonta on his official social media account on X wrote: “Donald Trump likes to do what he wants, when he wants, and how he wants, regardless of the constitution or the rule of law. We’re preparing to hold him accountable for lawbreaking.”
Overnight, on his personal X account, Bonta added:
“Trump admits he plans to deport…wait for it…US citizens
Um, that’s not a thing
& it’s unlawful
While Trump wants to do what he wants, when & how he wants, the presidency is limited in its authority by the Constitution & rule of law
If Trump breaks the law, we’ll stop him.”
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Earlier last week Bonta sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper to lay out his plan to fight Trump if he engages in unconstitutional acts.
California AG prepares for legal battles with new Trump WH
Watch the full video here: https://t.co/KUmIc30xGr pic.twitter.com/Yv8371oKKq— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) December 2, 2024
Other critics also blasted the President-elect.
“The forced deportation of roughly five million U.S. citizen children with undocumented parents would rank among the worst atrocities this country has ever carried out in its history,” observed attorney and immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.
“Trump talking casually about violating the Constitution and deporting legal US citizens… this should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country,” wrote California Democratic state Senator Sasha Renée Pérez.
Immigration attorney Allen Orr, Jr. warned, “No, a President / #Trump cannot deport U.S. citizens. Under the 14th Amendment, U.S. citizenship cannot be revoked arbitrarily. See: Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967).”
Ahmed Baba, a columnist at The Independent and co-founder of Rantt Media responded, writing: “1) We warned Trump would try to target legal immigrants and US citizens. 2) This move is incredibly illegal, just like his call to end birthright citizenship. 3) We’re about to find out how far-right the Supreme Court has truly become when these moves are tested in court.”
“Trump is promising a lot of illegal and unconstitutional moves,” he also wrote. “Many of them will be immediately slowed by the courts. He’s not all powerful. How much SCOTUS lets this lame duck POTUS violate the constitution will be the key metric of how bad things get.”
Professor of Law and immigration attorney Charles Kuck warned undocumented parents with children who are U.S. citizens, “Trump will order DOS [Dept. of State] to not issue passports. Folks who have little kids should be getting the passports now.”
“Trump will be issuing an executive order on January 20, 2025, ordering the Department of State to stop issuing US Passports to children born in the US to undocumented parents, and possibly even to parents on nonimmigrant visas, it is essential that those children be applying for US Passports immediately, using the expedite option from Department of State,” he added. “It is also highly likely that he will order USCIS to refuse to accept Form I-130 petitions from US citizen children for undocumented parents. So, file the Petitions now! I have no doubt that the courts will strike this down as unconstitutional, but it will not be a fast fight.”
Immigration attorney Curtis Morrison late Sunday night concurred: “If you’re the undocumented parent of US citizen kids but those kids don’t have US passports, take care of that tomorrow.”
Trump confirms that he plans to deport US citizens who have undocumented parents pic.twitter.com/fsmjwH1KAT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 8, 2024
Cecilia Vega asks: “Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?”
“Of course there is. Families can be deported together,” says Tom Homan, head of ICE during Trump’s family separation policy. https://t.co/If9G1sNEzj pic.twitter.com/TIWhi25Vdu
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 28, 2024
Watch the videos above or at this link.
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President Donald Trump concluded his executive time Friday morning with a statement announcing he would end the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and laid out his requirements for a deal with Iran, before declaring, “I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination.”
After a two-hour meeting with his advisors, Trump left without making a decision.
“It was not clear why Mr. Trump did not reach a decision,” The New York Times reports.
“In recent days, the sides have exchanged fire, and Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened a return to full-scale war,” the Times added.
Among Trump’s demands were that the Strait be reopened “immediately,” with no tolls imposed on traffic, and all water mines removed — although he noted, “we have removed, through detonation, numerous such mines with our great underwater mine sweepers.”
“Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!’ Say hello to your wives, husbands, parents, and families from me, your favorite President,” he wrote. Trump added: “No money will be exchanged, until further notice.”
READ MORE: Judge: Trump Cannot Rename Kennedy Center
Were an agreement to be reached, the Times noted, “it could give Mr. Trump an off-ramp from a war that has driven up oil prices and grown deeply unpopular at home. It could also eventually allow Iran to regain access to frozen overseas assets and provide a route for Tehran to get billions of dollars of oil revenue flowing again.”
Even if the Strait reopened immediately, experts warn, replacing the lost oil could take months.
“The spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Esmail Baghaei, said in a telephone interview with Iranian state media on Friday that current negotiations were limited in scope and did not include ‘the nuclear issue,'” the Times reports. Trump did specifically state that “Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb.”
He also mentioned “nuclear dust,” writing that it “is buried deep underground with virtually collapsed mountains, caused by our powerful B2 Bomber attack 11 months ago, sitting on top of it.”
The president said that it “will be unearthed by the United States (which, it is agreed, is the only Country, along with China, with the mechanical capability of doing so!), in close coordination and conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Iran, plus the International Atomic Energy Agency, and destroyed.”
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Image via Reuters
A federal judge has ordered that President Donald Trump cannot rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, nor may he close it for what the Trump administration said were two years of renovations.
“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” the judge wrote, CNBC reports. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Just weeks after he was sworn into office, Trump removed members of the board of the Kennedy Center and replaced them with allies and administration officials, including Richard Grenell, Pam Bondi, and Susie Wiles. The new board then voted for Trump to become chairman of the Kennedy Center.
In December, after the White House announced that the board of the Kennedy Center — the official, “living memorial” to the late president — had voted to rename the iconic cultural institution the Trump-Kennedy Center, several members of the Kennedy family took the opportunity to denounce the move.
Maria Shriver, the former First Lady of California, wrote: “The Kennedy Center was named after my uncle, President John F Kennedy.”
She called the renaming “beyond comprehension,” “beyond wild,” “downright weird,” and “obsessive in a weird way,” while explaining that the Kennedy Center was named in honor of a man who was interested in the arts, culture, education, language, and history.
“Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial,” she said. “The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on.”
May 17 is President John F. Kennedy’s birthday, he was born in 1917.
This article has been updated.
Image via Reuters
The Villages in Florida is deep red Trump country — it’s called the “largest retirement community in the world,” where nearly seven out of 10 county residents voted for Trump in 2024. It’s roughly four hours to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and resort, and it’s not unusual to see Trump flags on the backs of residents’ golf carts.
Trump visited The Villages just a few weeks ago, where one resident told BBC News, “we’re as red as red gets.”
“The Village are very Republican and very Trumpster,” said another.
“Trump 2028!” declared another, waving his fist.
But the tide appears to be turning in Florida, where several polls spell bad news for Trump. His approval is underwater in one poll from April, and one released on Thursday shows a majority of Florida voters hold a negative view of the president.
Still, some may find a letter to the editor in The Villages local news declaring “MAGA has abandoned core Republican principles” surprising.
The letter declares MAGA is “not conservatism,” but rather a “betrayal” that has “embraced indulgence.”
“The irony is cruel,” says the letter writer, Carl Young. “Those who once railed against ‘big government’ now defend its excesses when it serves their side. The philosophy of restraint has been replaced by the politics of spectacle. Rome is burning, and the arsonists call the flames freedom.”
Young scorches Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that he says “produced the highest deficit spending in history.”
Citing dystopian and totalitarian works by George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, and Ayn Rand, he writes: “This is not renewal but regression. America has been dragged into an alternate 1984, where responsibility collapses and chaos parades as strength. The political temperature has risen to 451. The pigs now rule the farm.”
“These were never meant as prophecies. They were warnings,” he continues. “Atlas has finally shrugged.”
Image via Shutterstock
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