Op-ed: There’s An Easy Way For Trump To Boost Deportations — But It Ain’t Cheap

Economic concerns aside, immigration was the most important issue in the 2024 presidential election, and the biggest overall for Republican voters. Since returning to office, President Trump has moved quickly to deliver on his promise to initiate “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country,” sealing the Southwest border and implementing multiple policies to drive the unauthorized population down. That said, numerous challenges are impeding Trump’s efforts, and his ability to confront them will determine his ultimate success.

The Center conservatively estimates that at least 15 million unauthorized immigrants are currently in the United States, millions of whom entered under the “open borders” policies of the Biden administration.

Their fiscal impact — on school districts, housing, and medical, public, and social services — is massive. For that reason, significantly decreasing the unauthorized population is critical not only to trimming the federal deficit but also to controlling state and local budget increases. The first step is to stem the inflow of new illegal migrants, and on that count the efforts of the president and his “Border Czar”, Tom Homan, have been an unqualified success. Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border in February and March fell 83 percent compared to November and December, but more importantly, that total was nearly 95 percent lower than it had been during the same two months in 2024.

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{Read the rest at the Daily Caller]