As the threat to national security from China continues, undocumented Chinese migrants could be the first on President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation list once he takes office in January.
According to NBC News, a source close to the Trump campaign said the president wants to remove undocumented Chinese nationals who crossed the southern border illegally at the height of President Joe Biden’s border crisis.
The source cited the potential risk to national security, which is not unfounded as the FBI recently admitted China is using remote hackers to steal American intellectual property and other sensitive information through U.S. telecommunications companies.
Executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Bethany Li told NBC News targeting “military age” undocumented Chinese migrants is another way to demonize China.
“We know that both the state and federal government have deemed China as a national security threat… We saw this in World War II with Japanese Americans incarcerated. We saw this post-9/11 with Muslim and South Asian men being detained and some deported.”
Li further stated Chinese migrants flee to the U.S. because of poverty and dissatisfaction with China’s government.
“It’s another way of casting our community as an enemy. It might not even make any logical sense from a national security perspective, but our communities on the ground here in the U.S. will feel the impact,” Li said.
Since Trump’s victory, Democrat pundits like MSNBC’s Joy Reid have been fueling fear and reporting the Trump administration could deport green card holders and naturalized citizens, as well as undocumented migrants across the board.
Oh it gets worse. Joe Reid suggests President Trump will deport green card holders who are legally in America. “If you’re brown, you may not stick around.”
pic.twitter.com/TJjz1z9FXL— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) November 9, 2024
Other outlets have also been stoking that fear.
Trump may deport hundreds of thousands of migrants whom Biden allowed to legally enter U.S. – NBC News https://t.co/p1s0qEpvOo
— Lana @ MAGA (@rorlolson) November 9, 2024
Jim Banks on CNN: Yes Donald Trump plans to deport all 15 million illegals that were brought in under Biden. pic.twitter.com/tncSts9HsM
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) November 10, 2024
However, past comments during his presidential campaign show Trump was not referring to migrants who enter the U.S. legally through a port-of-entry, and have a legal right to stay in the U.S. Trump called the rumor “fake news.”
President Trump says under NO CIRCUMSTANCES does he support deporting LEGAL immigrants, calling reports that he would do so “FAKE NEWS!” pic.twitter.com/OMyl8Mdwwb
— Proud Elephant (@ProudElephantUS) October 18, 2024
Trump has reiterated many times that the U.S. needs more people to immigrate legally, and this does not include those who would cause harm to the American people through crimes like murder and drug dealing.
Trump changes his tune on legal migration:
‘We’re going to let a lot of people come in, because we need more people, especially with AI coming. The farmers need it, everybody needs it but we’re going to make sure they’re not murderers and drug dealers.’pic.twitter.com/0qoAwjyE3h
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) August 25, 2024
Trump to a woman whose family escaped communism: “We want as many people to come in as possible, but they have to come in legally. We don’t want murderers; we don’t want drug dealers.pic.twitter.com/j9jsCCkCP5
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) October 16, 2024