Trump Has A New Family Separation Problem
If there’s a problem that epitomizes the arduousness — and likely the impracticality — of President-elect Donald Trump’s second-term agenda, it might be the fate of the U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants Trump wants to deport en masse.
Trump reiterated Sunday that his goal is to deport all undocumented immigrants. But an estimated 4.4 million minor children who are citizens live with undocumented parents in the United States. That means a huge portion of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country have minor children who are not legally subject to deportation.
If you follow Donald Trump’s reasoning, his proposed policies would effectively revive — and potentially expand — the deeply controversial family separation policy his first administration implemented for border-crossers. That policy resulted in an estimated 5,000 children being separated from their parents, sparking widespread outrage.
As Trump and his prospective administration outline their plans, they seem to lack a clear solution for avoiding a repeat of this scenario — or, perhaps, they might not see a need to avoid it at all.
In an interview aired Sunday on NBC News, Kristen Welker confronted Trump on the issue, asking how he would address the challenges posed by his immigration policies. Trump indicated that, under his plan, the children of undocumented immigrants would be deported alongside their families.
“I don’t want to be breaking up families,” Trump said. “So the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together, and you have to send them all back.”
When Welker pointed out that some of these children are U.S. citizens by birth, Trump did not walk back his statement. Instead, he doubled down, suggesting that his approach would override the current legal protections granted to these children.
Trump’s remarks raise significant questions about how his administration would reconcile such policies with constitutional rights, as well as the humanitarian and legal implications of deporting American citizens alongside their undocumented family members.
Trump and the Complex Debate Over Family Deportations
Former President Donald Trump recently addressed the contentious issue of family deportations, emphasizing the need for “rules and regulations” when handling such cases. “Well, what you’ve got to do if they want to stay with their father — look, we have to have rules and regulations,” Trump said. “You can always find something out like, you know, ‘This doesn’t work. That doesn’t work.’”
The administration faces two primary options in such scenarios: either deport entire families, including U.S.-born citizens, or separate families by sending the undocumented parents to another country while their children remain in the U.S. Both options present significant challenges.
Deporting U.S. citizens alongside undocumented parents would likely encounter major legal obstacles. Meanwhile, separating families risks widespread public disapproval. While polls suggest many Americans support stricter immigration enforcement, a recent survey revealed 57% oppose mass deportations if they lead to family separations, compared to 38% in favor.
Trump’s remarks mirror those of his incoming border czar, Tom Homan, who discussed family deportations during a late October interview on CBS News’s 60 Minutes. When asked if mass deportation could be achieved without separating families, Homan responded, “Of course there is: Families can be deported together.”
However, these statements clash with previous comments from both Trump and Homan. In a post-election appearance on Fox News, host Sean Hannity asked Homan about claims that his plan would involve deporting U.S. citizens. Homan categorically denied this, stating, “No, exactly not. They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”
Homan later dismissed similar allegations in another Fox News interview, calling the notion absurd. “I heard the other day that we’re going to deport U.S. citizens, too,” he said incredulously while addressing unrelated claims. “I heard that one.”
Trump himself has also suggested that exceptions would be made for families with U.S.-born children, though details remain unclear. These contradictions underscore the complexities and controversies surrounding the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement.
The Public and Legal Challenges
The debate over deportation policies highlights broader tensions between public sentiment and practical implementation. While many Americans support stricter immigration measures, the idea of separating families — or deporting U.S.-born children — sparks significant backlash. Legal experts also question the feasibility of policies that could infringe upon the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens.
As Trump and Homan navigate these challenges, their comments reflect the difficulty of balancing tough rhetoric with the realities of policymaking. Whether exemptions will be made or policies clarified remains to be seen, but the issue of family deportations continues to fuel debate over the nation’s immigration system.
In another interview with NBC in August in which he was pressed on the subject, he said, “Provisions will be made, but we have to get the criminals out.” But he didn’t elaborate on what those provisions might be.
Similarly, Homan in the Hannity interview downplayed the idea of deporting citizens by saying the mass deportation effort would “prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first.”
But that doesn’t address what happens after that priority. And Trump in his interview Sunday made clear he aims to deport far more than just criminals and other threats:
WELKER: But is it your plan to deport everyone who is here illegally over the next four years?
TRUMP: Well, I think you have to do it, and it’s a hard — it’s a very tough thing to do. It’s — but you have to have, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally.
How to square all of this?
One reading is that they’re backing away from deporting more than just criminals — recognizing how fraught and difficult all of this would be — but they don’t want to say that because Trump promised a much larger and all-encompassing operation.
Another is that they’re claiming that the citizen children of undocumented immigrants might elect to go with their parents rather than be forcibly deported themselves. But that doesn’t address what happens if and when those children decide to stay and suddenly don’t have guardians.
What’s clear is that it’s a potential mess in the making. And if Trump presses forward with his promises of mass deportation, it could make the family separation controversy of his first administration — already one of his most widely derided policies and a humanitarian crisis — look like peanuts.