One of the most controversial actions taken by President Donald Trump has been his order on immigration. With his plan coming into focus, the president used questionable language to describe his policy.
Trump on immigration
When Donald Trump first announced his candidacy for president back in 2015, he quickly received backlash when he referred to illegal immigrants from Mexico as "murderers" and "rapists." Throughout his campaign, Trump vowed to complete construction of a Southern border wall, while promising to have Mexico pay for it. In addition, Trump spoke about deporting as many illegal immigrants as possible, while starting with those who have committed crimes other then entering the country illegally.
As reported by The Hill on February 23, Trump has elaborated on his plans.
While speaking with CEOs of American manufacturing companies, Donald Trump addressed his immigration plans while taking questions from reporters. "We’re getting really bad dudes out of this country," Trump said, before adding "and at a rate nobody has ever seen before." Trump doubled down on his vow to target "the bad ones," while describing it as a "Military Operation." The former host of "The Apprentice" went on to tout his early success, noting, "for the first time, we're getting gang members out. We're getting drug lords out."
Trump calls deportation effort a "military operation" to get “really bad dudes" out of US https://t.co/GV2RwMfjJE pic.twitter.com/XLr48K2Oi6
— The Hill (@thehill) February 23, 2017
According to revised guidelines for the Department of Homeland Security, the amount of illegal immigrants who will be subject to deportation is expected to increase.
As part of the new order, law enforcement agencies have been directed to "hire thousands of new agents to apprehend people living in the country illegally." However, despite the president's claim of a "military operation," the actual military is not involved, pushing back at prior reports suggesting the National Guard could be used.
Pres. Trump says the new crackdown on undocumented immigrants is a "military operation" https://t.co/E5hN11Vdkb pic.twitter.com/mWrVyYzJO7
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 23, 2017
American reaction
In response to the change in immigration and deportation policy, millions of Americans have taken to the streets to voice their opposition to Donald Trump and his agenda. Protests have occurred on an almost daily basis, as the gap between the political left and right continues to widen.