Pundits have cast doubt on whether President-elect Donald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, can remove the millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. They are wrong to do so. With the right strategies, removing millions of illegal immigrants in a humane and orderly way is possible.
To understand why America has millions of illegal immigrants, one must first understand why these individuals, most of whom are good people, are illegally present here.
First, both Republicans and Democrats have made false promises that one day illegal immigrants could become citizens. This is far from reality. Unless the president, along with Congress, grants blanket amnesty — an almost impossible scenario — this will not happen. As a result, many illegal immigrants work for extremely low wages, often paid in cash, enduring brutal conditions and mistreatment by their employers. They cling to the hope that they will eventually become citizens. Imagine being an illegal immigrant from India, working for half the wages under a boss who mistreats you and treats you like a personal servant. Your wife and kids haven’t seen you in decades. What benefit does this situation provide to the person or their family abroad?
Second, people remain in the U.S. illegally because they want to earn money and send it back to their home countries. These remittances contribute to significant income inequality in developing countries and often fuel inflation. Imagine consumer prices in Africa rising or falling due to the U.S. dollar’s rise or fall. The people who don’t get remittance in U.S. dollars feel the inflation.
Encourage Voluntary Departure
Many individuals remain unaware of the benefits of a Voluntary Departure Order. Unlike deportation, voluntary departure allows individuals to leave the U.S. on their own terms, avoiding the legal penalties and stigma tied to formal removal proceedings. Outreach campaigns — delivered in multiple languages through community organizations and social media — can explain the benefits, financial incentives, and steps involved. These efforts would highlight how voluntary departure leads to better outcomes for individuals and their families.
For individuals without legal travel documents, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should assist with obtaining passports. Many illegal immigrants have remained in the U.S. so long that they lack the necessary documents to leave. Among them are those willing to return home but who lack financial resources or logistical support. A dedicated support system could include:
- A toll-free hotline staffed by multilingual representatives trained to help individuals obtain documents and navigate the voluntary departure process.
- Clear guidance on visiting local ICE offices for in-person assistance.
To encourage participation, individuals served with Notices to Appear (NTAs) — including those awaiting court hearings or appeals — should be offered a $1,000 plane ticket as an incentive. This solution is both humane and cost-effective.
In addition, mobile immigration courts stationed near border areas and urban hubs can streamline adjudication, reduce backlogs, and provide swift resolutions for individuals in removal proceedings.
Failure to Self-Deport
Those who do not self-deport within 180 days of the new administration, deportation proceedings must begin. The main challenge is identifying individuals who are illegally present. These individuals can be categorized into two groups:
Entered legally but overstayed
For those who arrived legally, their entry would be documented with an I-94 form. This is the first step in tracing an individual. Did they extend their I-94 or transition to permanent residency? If they gained permanent residency, was it legitimate? For example, did they fraudulently coordinate with a sponsoring employer? Are they still employed there?
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can cross-check airport entry records to verify whether individuals departed as required. While this poses challenges due to the lack of U.S. exit immigration requirements, DHS could retrieve passport data to match individuals who arrived and departed. For those who failed to leave, ICE can place them in in-absentia deportation proceedings.
Entered illegally
Those who entered the country illegally, such as through border crossings, often have fewer official records. Over time, many of them obtain a Social Security card and some form of identification, such as a driver’s license. If the Social Security card is marked with “Not Authorized to Work Without a Valid Work Permit” the DHS can cross-check these individuals against green card or naturalization application records.
Supporting Policies to Prevent Illegal Presence
-
- Eliminate access to public benefits such as schools, driver’s licenses, state IDs, medical services, home ownership, home rentals, business ownership, bank accounts, and insurance for individuals without legal residency. This policy is already standard in many countries outside the United States.
- Make legal residency mandatory for 1099 workers. There is often discussion about W-9 workers and the requirement for employers to be registered with E-Verify. However, with the rise of the gig economy, many individuals without legal U.S. residency have opted to become gig workers. This places no burden on employers to verify whether a contractor is legally present in the country. Unauthorized work is also prevalent in the freelancing and tech industries. Even day laborers and general contractors can use 1099 forms to circumvent the work permit requirement.
- Abolish birthright citizenship. Millions of legal and illegal immigrants choose to give birth in the U.S. in hopes that one day they will be able to secure citizenship once the child turns 18. Many immigration lawyers argue their cases based on such “humanitarian grounds,” that the child who is a U.S. citizen will face undue hardship if the parents are removed.
- Require schools to report the residency status of every enrolled student, from elementary to university levels.
- Mandate law enforcement to verify the immigration status of anyone arrested and deport illegal immigrants currently serving sentences in U.S. prisons.
- Encourage the public to report violent individuals who are illegally present to help expedite enforcement.
Assume that most of the suggestions above will be challenged in courts with an intent to delay the operations. A multi-level strategy is essential to overcome such obstacles.
Looking forward
One of the underappreciated realities is the disparity in job types between legal and illegal immigrants. Legal immigrants often find employment in white-collar jobs. In contrast, illegal immigrants disproportionately occupy blue-collar roles, which often involve grueling physical labor and require a remarkable degree of skill. These blue-collar jobs — such as building homes, maintaining infrastructure, harvesting crops — are no small feats, yet the individuals performing these roles often go unrecognized. Dismissing blue-collar illegal immigrants as “low-skilled” is both inaccurate and unjust.
It is crucial that the removal operation is handled as humanely as possible. Not all of them are bad people; they simply wanted to provide for themselves and their families, and they should not be treated inhumanely for that. While their path may have been wrong, many have traveled a very difficult path of thousands of miles. Deportation does not have to be a sad event if it helps reunite families. Imagine the smile of a teenager seeing their father in person for the first time in their memory. Imagine the joy of a wife finally being able to hug her husband after many years. Skill and talent are present among both legal and illegal immigrants, spanning across blue-collar and white-collar industries. Who knows, some of these people will go back to their home countries and create businesses that would employ thousands of people so that they do not have to become an illegal immigrant in another country.
