US President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed that he is prepared to declare a national emergency and use military assets to deport millions of illegal immigrants in the United States as soon as he takes office on January 20 next year.

Trump’s team was evaluating a national emergency declaration to unlock Pentagon resources to pave the way for expanding detention space, strike down President Joe Biden’s policies and deport undocumented immigrants in the USPeople close to the President-elect and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfil his mass deportation campaign promise, including reviewing metropolitan areas where capabilities exist. They are also preparing executive actions that are a call back to his first term in office and could be rolled out as soon as Trump takes office, sources told CNN.

Trump’s Push For Mass Deportations

In the run-up to the presidential election on November 5, Trump made immigration a central part of his campaign. However, unlike his first term, which focused on building a border wall to deter immigrants entering from Mexico, his attention has turned towards interior enforcement and deportation of illegal immigrants already in the US.

Since his victory, Trump has nominated Republican immigration hardliners into his upcoming cabinet, including Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy and Tom Homan as the “border czar", who have already promised to deport undocumented immigrants.

Trump also is expected to end President Joe Biden’s humanitarian programs that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally in recent years and could encourage those with expired statuses to leave voluntarily, sources told Reuters.

The President-elect accused Biden of allowing high levels of illegal immigration that impacted crime levels and the economy. Trump aims to drive illegal crossings even lower and use a whole-of-government approach to arrest, detain and deport large numbers of people.

What Trump’s Policies Look Like?

Trump’s upcoming executive actions and reviews that are reportedly underway include the return of the “remain in Mexico" programme, which requires migrants to stay in Mexico during their immigration proceedings in the US, revising asylum restrictions, revoking protections for migrants covered by Biden’s humanitarian parole programs and undoing ICE’s enforcement priorities, according to two sources briefed on transition policy discussions.