Donald Trump Promises to Deport Syrian Migrants Who Settle in the US
Trump wants Western nations to create a "safe zone" in Syria for refugees.
— -- Donald Trump said he would deport all Syrian refugees who settle in the U.S. if elected president.
"Anybody that's brought into this country from the migration is going to be out,” Trump said at a rally in Knoxville, Tenn., Monday night. “We’re not gonna do it. We’re gonna have a country again, we’re gonna have borders, we’re gonna have a country again, right now we don't have a country."
Rather than accept Syrian refugees in the U.S., which Trump argues is a “Trojan Horse” that could allow entry for terrorists into the country, he advocates for building a “safe zone” inside Syria, where he said refugees could wait out the conflict.
"A big beautiful safe zone, and you have whatever it is so people can live and they'll be happier,” Trump said. “It’ll cost you tremendously much less, much less, and they’ll be there and the weather’s the same, and all of the different things, and then...then it's all over, they move back, and they go back into their cities, and they rebuild their cities and they start out and they start over again.”
More than 25 governors have vowed to reject Syrian refugees from settling in their states in response to the Paris attacks. The White House said it's continuing with plans to accept about 10,000 refugees from Syria.
Trump’s prescription is the latest in a series of strong-armed tactics he has advocated for on the topic of immigration.
Trump has also promised to deport the estimated 11 million people currently living in the United States who immigrated here illegally.
He recently outlined how such a mass deportation would work by comparing it to a program carried out by President Dwight Eisenhower. The program, referred to as “Operation Wetback,” deployed controversial tactics to deport nearly a million undocumented Mexican immigrants. Eisenhower’s program was investigated by Congress and was eventually stopped due to high costs.
