Too Extreme to lead:
DONALD TRUMP

In the four years Donald Trump served as President of the United States, he tore families apart, decimated our immigration system, and left a moral stain on our nation’s history. As we approach the 2024 presidential election, he is not only doubling down on his past extremism but also pledging to inflict even more harm on immigrant communities.  

With Trump as the GOP candidate, there’s a lot at stake this election year. The anti-immigrant policies Trump promises to enact would have consequences for us all. The NILC Immigrant Justice Fund has conducted comprehensive research into Trump’s extreme, anti-immigrant record and will be tracking his attacks in real time.  

 
    • Trump advisor Stephen Miller said Trump will try to eliminate DACA in a second term.

    • Trump has not ruled out reinstating his previous administration’s infamous family separation policy.

    • Trump pledged to set up massive internment-style camps and hire thousands more ICE agents to deport millions of immigrants in what he’s calling “the largest domestic deportation operation in history.” In order to implement his harsh internment and deportation program, Trump would sidestep Congress by diverting funds from the U.S. military budget.

    • Trump would assemble a “Private Red-State Army” of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials to conduct mass migrant raids.

    • Trump announced plans to carry out large-scale, indiscriminate raids in workplaces and public areas that would rely on racial profiling. Trump intends to invoke the "Alien Enemies Act,” which was used to incarcerate Japanese citizens in camps during World War II.

    • Trump threatened to pursue human trafficking charges against non-profit organizations that provide basic services to immigrants and said that he would even subject them to the death penalty. He also plans to “blitz” the legal system on day one and “act like a dictator” to overwhelm immigrants' rights lawyers.

    • Trump promised to reimpose every harmful policy his administration created – including the "Remain in Mexico" policy and Title 42 expulsion order. And, in a second term, Trump wants to severely curtail or eliminate a multitude of refugee and humanitarian visa programs, including ones used by Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

    • If elected, Trump would directly attack and end birthright citizenship – a right protected by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

    • Trump has promised to further expand his discriminatory Muslim and African Bans to even more countries.

    • Trump pledged to waste billions more dollars to build his border wall. He also promised to use military force to respond to the “invasion” at the border, including the use of unilateral military strikes against Mexico and a naval embargo in the southern hemisphere.

    • Trump promised to strip tens of thousands of civil servants of their employment protections with the goal of replacing them with anti-immigrant ideologues to carry out his harmful policies.

    • The Trump administration intentionally separated thousands of children from their parents. Hundreds have yet to be reunited.

    • Within the first year of his presidency, Trump announced the rescission of DACA with the goal of exposing hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth to deportation.

    • The Trump administration announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Sudan — exposing up to 300,000 people to deportation.

    • The Trump administration’s Muslim and African bans — policies deeply rooted in white supremacy — inflicted direct harm on thousands of immigrants who were unable to travel to the United States based on their religion and national origin.

    • The number of deportation orders during the Trump administration nearly doubled each year compared to the previous administration.

    • As president, Trump wasted billions of dollars on an unnecessary border wall.

    • The Trump administration effectively dismantled the legal asylum system.

    • Through its Remain in Mexico policy, the Trump administration exposed millions of asylum seekers to danger and harm.

    • The Trump administration launched large-scale worksite raids that deliberately targeted immigrants of color.

    • Through its revised Public Charge rule, the Trump administration tried to establish an unconstitutional wealth test to deny immigrants access to economic supports.

    • As president, Donald Trump reduced refugee resettlement to the lowest levels in three decades.