Trump’s plan for the ‘largest deportation' in American history

big promises from the incoming US president in day one I will launch the largest deportation program in American history he's talking about millions of people but how is that going to work and how should Canada prepare two untangle as Paul Hunter is in Washington Katherine Cullen is in Ottawa so Paul day one uh Donald Trump wants to launch this Mass deportation program where does he start as soon as he walks into the White House on inauguration day Adrian right off the bat he's made clear his immediate priority will be to go after migrants with criminal

records and any migrant known to be or suspected to be in a gang as he's put it they will be hunted down and arrested but broadly speaking Trump's goal is to deport every undocumented migrant in the country and there are 11 million of them that's more than everyone in Alberta and British Colombia combined a massive undertaking that said the guessing is that realistic number is 1 million deportations per year so how to do that well there'd be Mass raids almost certainly involving Municipal state and federal Enforcement Officers likely moving in on workplaces schools hospitals churches

in all 50 states and checkpoints show me your papers kind of thing once found and arrested the throngs of migrants would need some place to be held for processing this is where the camps come in the state of Texas is already already offered up land for a giant detention Camp roughly the size of 700 football fields then comes that processing anyone who's lived in the US for at least two years regardless of legal status is entitled to a deportation hearing a day in court as it were for all who qualify when that happens and if

then ordered deported out they go at least that's the plan look Trump wants to go big on this and he wants to go as quickly as possible want to know if he's serious Adrian Give a listen to Steven Miller arguing the most influential adviser to Trump on this issue here he is on day one the southern border slams shut to Illegal immigration so all the illegal aliens all over the world who've been taking a free ride at America's expense for four years guess what you show up you're not getting in you're not getting through you're

not getting released you're not going to any City anywhere in America the only thing you're getting courtesy of the US taxpayer is a flight back home okay tough talk I mean Catherine um if the Americans launch this Mass deportation and presumably it's a matter of when they launch it is the expectation simply that there will just be a surge of people heading into Canada there are certainly warnings to that effect Adrian you talk about uh former Federal immigration Minister former premier of Alberta Jason Kenny has given that warning Kelly craft who is Donald Trump's former

ambassador to Canada saying prepare this country needs to be prepared for a major influx and if that does happen it's a challenge on a couple of fronts because of the safe Third Country agreement with the United States anybody who wants to get into Canada and stay they can't just come to an official border crossing they would have to sneak across the border and stay in Canada undetected for 14 days now they could after those 14 days then claim Asylum that is a challenge for Canada because there was a massive backlog of refugee claims we're talking

about a quarter of a million would take years to process the claims that are already in the pipe so if you add a lot of numbers to that obviously a problem but even if people contined to live underground off the radar the federal government has just cut back its own immigration targets acknowledging them when it comes to housing when it comes to Social Services there is a strain across the country essentially that we are to some extent at capacity when it comes to taking on a greater number of new people so add a big unexpected

surge that's a challenge on that front than you about would you just said about the rules right about the the 14 days I I am guessing though that the rules as they exist now could very well change right we're not talking about forever rules depending on the situation and you know on on that note when we're talking about numbers um if we look at what happened in Canada between 2016 and Trump's first year when there was just a threat of mass deportations look what happened to Asylum seekers in Canada that year Alone look at that

jump that that is just on the threat of deportation so clearly the operating presumption in NWA is that people will come and that it will be more than a threat that the deportations will happen here's what NDP leader jug meet Singh told reporters yesterday about border security in general and what he thinks needs to happen we need to immediately hire 1100 cbsa officers just to get back to the level where we can actually do the minimum required and then look at hiring more officers to do a better job of protecting Canadian this is not just

about making sure we prevent the trade tariffs that could hurt us directly but it's also in our interest to do this so cathine I mean that's what the NDP wants to happen uh what are your sources telling you that the Canadian government is actually going to do yeah it's interesting uh Adrian the extent to which the Canadian government is being fairly tight lipped about this they say they don't want to engage in hypotheticals at the same time they're trying to offer assurances to Canadians that they have thought about these issues and I have to tell

you this isn't just a conversation it's happening politically uh the CBC radio show and political podcast that I host the house just last week we were at one of Canada's 3 immigration holding centers and we were talking to senior officials within the Canada Border Services Agency and we were told this question of taking on more people be it in the holding centers engaging in more deportations these are things they have considered things that they are prepared for of course the government doesn't want to get things to that level right they want to stop people at

the border and turn them around and this is where interesting L Donald Trump's own interest dovetail with the Canadian government he has been talking about uh drugs and human smuggling people headed into drugs headed into the United States from Canada and that has prompted the Canadian government to talk about how it wants to deal with the Border be it through drones um getting more helicopters more resources on the border all of those things would of course help as well if there was a surge coming in the other direction it's really interesting though Adrian to contrast

this moment to 2017 a a famous or inFAMOUS depending on how you look at it tweet from Justin Trudeau where he said when Trump was enacting his ban of people from majority several majority Muslim countries to those fleeing persecution Terror and War Canada will welcome you regardless of your faith uh you know the political climate is very different now the politics of immigration in Canada have changed this Trump Administration appears that it is going to be a very different one uh right now the Canadian government is preparing to spend about a quarter of a million

on ads this is a campaign they've been doing in recent years for people who are looking up how to claim asylum in Canada warning Them There Are Rules it's a complex process you have to follow the rules if you want to come here yeah they spent a long time backpedaling uh from that statement a while ago I I suppose Paul like Canada's in a position now of forwarned is forearmed is making all these preparations but bottom line can Donald Trump actually really stage these Mass deportations can it happen yeah sure seem so and look the

US has done this before operation for example complete with its racist name in the 1950s rounded up more than a million Mexicans for deportation all in the name of protecting jobs for Americans at the time it was the biggest Mass deportation program in American history Trump's plan goes well beyond that to execute it he said he'd invoke What's called the illegal enemies act from 1798 a piece of legislation meant for use during wartime if he does that he'd likely face Court challenges but if it goes to the US Supreme Court let's not forget the makeup

of the bench would seem to be in Trump's favor the big issue is probably money Catherine mentioned Canada's immigration system being overwhelmed well same thing in the US and with this program there need to be all kinds of new immigration judges new enforcement agents staff for the camps uh food and transport for the detainees estimates vary but the suggestion is to deport all 11 million let's say you'd be talking some $150 billion do over the course of time that would need Congressional approval but guess what Republicans just won control of Capitol Hill Full Speed Ahead

for Donald Trump yeah he'd surely get that all right Paul Hunter kathern Cullen thank you [Music]