As newly-elected U.S. President Donald Trump moves to fill key cabinet positions in his next administration, experts and rights groups in the United States have said his selections so far point toward a crackdown on immigration.

Trump announced Monday that Tom Homan – a former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – will serve as his “border czar,” while it was also reported that longtime adviser Stephen Miller will serve as his deputy chief of staff for policy.

Homan and Miller were the architects of some of Trump’s most divisive immigration policies during his first term, including the separation of families of migrants and asylum seekers seeking protection at the U.S.-Mexico border and the so-called Muslim ban.

With Republicans set to come to power in January promising to carry out the “largest deportation operation in American history,” advocates say the new appointments are a signal that Trump plans to try to make good on that campaign promise. to make.

“They’ve learned some things since the last time they were in office,” immigration attorney Greg Siskind said of Miller and Homan.

“We’ll see if they’ll take a slower, more methodical approach to finding ways around obstacles they encountered last time, or a bull-in-the-China-shop approach where they come in and just do things starting to break,” he told Al Jazeera.

Traditional advisors

The crackdown on immigration — an issue that has routinely been among Americans’ top concerns ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election — has been a central part of Trump’s successful reelection campaign.

The former president and his Republican allies have spent months attacking Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden over their handling of the issue, vowing to “close” the US-Mexico border and deport millions of people.

In a statement announcing Homan’s appointment on Sunday, Trump said there is “no one better at guarding and controlling our borders.” He added that as “border czar” Homan would be responsible for all deportations of “illegal aliens back to their countries of origin.”

Homan — who served as ICE director during Trump’s first term, which ran from 2017 to 2021 — has been an outspoken supporter of the push to deport undocumented immigrants.

“I turned off my phone Friday night because I couldn’t handle the calls, the texts, the emails from thousands of ICE agents, Border Patrol agents, excited about the rumor that I’m coming back,” he said in an interview with FOX News on Monday.

“And even more important than that, thousands of retired agents, retired military personnel, who want to come in and volunteer to help this president secure the border and carry out the deportation operation.”

Miller, one of Trump’s longtime advisers who regularly uses inflammatory, anti-migrant rhetoric, is also an outspoken supporter of mass deportations.

Last year, he said in a podcast interview that National Guard units could be deployed in several states to assist with the deportation.

He also told The New York Times in November 2023 that the government could set up “camps” to hold people pending removal.

Arash Azizzada, an immigrant rights activist and co-founder of the group Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, said the appointments of Homan and Miller show Trump is determined to keep his “most cruel and racist policy promises.”

“We will fight back to protect our vulnerable newcomers,” he told Al Jazeera in a text message.

“It is also why we have urged blue cities and states to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials, as they should serve as a bulwark against the deportation machine that Trump is threatening,” Azizzada added, referring to areas under democratic leadership.

During his FOX News interview, Homan said additional enforcement personnel could be deployed if states and municipalities refused to cooperate with the new Trump administration on its deportation plans.

“We’re going to get the job done without you or with you,” he said.

Potential challenges

While Trump has said immigration enforcement will only affect undocumented immigrants, activists have raised alarm over previous statements that appeared to support even more radical policies.

During his campaign, Trump said that Haitians who are legally in the country under a federal law granting them “temporary protected status” are actually “illegal immigrants” as far as I’m concerned. He said he would have them deported.

Trump has also said he will sign an executive order restricting birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution that grants citizenship to anyone born in the country, regardless of the legal status of their parents.

However, Siskind, the immigration lawyer, said such efforts would certainly face major legal challenges in court.

The same is likely true, he said, of other tough measures, such as declaring that people trying to enter the US at the border with Mexico would amount to an “invasion,” invoking emergency measures and quickly deporting them using a law from the 18th century. .

“Their ambitions can become reality,” he said.

‘Keep fighting’

Yet pro-migration advocates in the US are preparing for a widespread crackdown on the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees under the new Trump administration.

With election races still taking place in the US House of Representatives, there is a good chance that Republicans will take control of both chambers of Congress, having already secured a majority in the Senate.

That would give the Republican president-elect a strong position to push through his policy plans.

But while many organizations expect an attack once Trump returns to the White House, others have emphasized that the task of defending immigrant rights has often been a lonely task under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

“While many believe we are in the darkest moment in our country’s political history, we want to remind you that we have been in this moment for quite some time. Immigrants are always the proverbial canary in the mine,” said Al Otro Lado, a group that works with migrants at the US-Mexico border.

“Under the current (Biden) administration, we saw them fight to keep the border closed under the Trump-era policy, Title 42. We saw them refuse to process refugees at U.S. ports of entry, in violation of federal and international law “, the organization said in a statement.

“It doesn’t matter who is in power right now. The mission of Al Otro Lado remains unchanged. We will continue to speak out, expose injustice and fight as we did under Trump Round One.”

It doesn’t matter who is in power at the moment. The mission of Al Otro Lado remains unchanged. We will continue to speak out, expose injustice, and fight as we did under Trump’s First Round. We know that good things can and will still happen, and we are inspired by the power,… pic.twitter.com/QZ6mOTapUE

— Al Otro Lado (@AlOtroLado_Org) November 8, 2024