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| Donald Trump at a rally in Washington. January 19, 2025 | Photo: Reuters |
Donald Trump said his administration would arrest illegal immigrants on his first day as US president, vowing to quickly fulfill a key campaign promise. He made the remarks to thousands of supporters at a rally in Washington on Sunday, a day before he took office.
"We will be closing our country to immigration tomorrow at sundown," Trump told the crowd at the 'Make America Great Again' victory rally at the Capital One Arena.
During the election campaign, Trump repeatedly said that if he became president, he would launch the toughest immigration enforcement campaign in US history. The measure would see millions of immigrants deported. However, an anti-immigration campaign on that scale would take years and be very expensive.
Yesterday, Trump said, "This is the greatest political movement in the history of the United States. 75 days ago, we achieved a historic political victory. Our country has never seen anything like it. Starting tomorrow, I will take action with historic force and solve every crisis in our country."
This is Trump's first major speech in Washington since January 6, 2021. After that speech, Trump's supporters were inspired to attack Capitol Hill. Now Trump has said that if he takes office as president, he will pardon more than 1500 people accused of the Capitol Hill attack.
Trump will deliver his inaugural address on Monday, where he is expected to outline his plans for a second term. In recent weeks, he has expressed his desire to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal and make Canada a US state, which has shocked foreign allies.
Trump has vowed to rescind "every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration" within hours of taking office at noon local time today.
A source familiar with Trump's plans said Trump will take more than 200 executive actions in the United States on Monday.
Another source said that border security would be a major focus of Trump's first executive orders. The measures include designating drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations," declaring a state of emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, and moving toward reinstating the "remain in Mexico" policy, under which non-Mexican asylum seekers under the "remain in Mexico" policy would wait in the U.S. court for a date.
Trump's deportation plans have created panic among immigrants. They fear being deported. Many advocates for immigrants say that some of these immigrants are law-abiding, long-term residents, and their spouses have US citizenship and children.
Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States today in a chamber in the Capitol building. The ceremony, which was originally scheduled to be held outdoors, is being moved indoors due to winter weather. About 25,000 law enforcement officers will be responsible for security at the event.