Trump may deport hundreds of thousands of migrants whom Biden allowed to legally enter U.S.
The migrants participated in two Biden programs that created legal pathways to enter the US and punished those who crossed the border illegally.
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering ending two Biden administration programs that have allowed more than 1.3 million immigrants to enter the U.S. legally, making those who entered but have not yet received asylum eligible for deportation, two sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.
The exact number of people who could face deportation after arriving in the U.S. legally is not known, but it is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.
Trump’s plan to end the two Biden programs comes as the president-elect’s promised plan to carry out mass deportations is taking clearer shape. Trump’s transition team is considering plans designed to maximize the scope of the deportations and prioritize certain immigrants as among the first to be forced to leave.
While those who entered under the programs may be eligible for deportation, the first people likely to be targeted are those considered to be threats, possibly including Chinese men who are deemed to be of military age living illegally in the United States, the two sources and a third source familiar with the plan told NBC News. This group would also include convicted criminals who are in the U.S. illegally and those with final orders of deportation, the officials said.
Migrants who arrived in the U.S. legally under the two Biden administration programs — CBP One and the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) parole program — may be immune from deportation if they have already been granted asylum or are on the path toward it, or have another legal status to stay in the United States.
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