In his first televised interview after winning the US presidential election, Donald Trump has reiterated his commitment to deport all illegal immigrants in the United States who have criminal records. What is essentially new about this is just the urgency with which Trump wishes to execute this as already under the Obama administration there was a procedure to deport undocumented immigrants, in which the immigration court would decide such cases. However, the backlog of cases in these immigration courts hampered deportations on a large scale. How Trump would find a way around this to deport \u201cmillions\u201d of such immigrants is still a mystery as he has up till now concentrated on what he wants to achieve rather than give any blueprint as to how he would achieve it. With Trump, the whole world is in for a surprise and it remains to be seen if the change Trump has promised would be a change for the good or the worse.
\nHowever, through extreme positions, blunt opinions, and a new kind of vitriol that was deliberately shorn of political correctness, Trump appeared as a demagogue who made a lot of enemies in the media. Such unified and concerted opposition towards a presidential candidate by media houses has been unprecedented in America\u2019s recent past, and it had the effect of further reinforcing Trump\u2019s carefully crafted image of a person who stood against the status quo. Trump\u2019s populist politics has brought him to the White House with a certain perception, which militates against his word being heard by his detractors with an open mind. This is all the more relevant on the issue of deportation as it had brought Trump both fame and notoriety. And hence, it is essential to step back and objectively analyse Trump’s remarks, rather than view them from a preconceived prejudiced lens.
\nAmidst all the criticism, it must be realised that Trump has pledged to deport all illegal immigrants who have criminal records. These are not refugees who have flown to America in order to escape persecution; they are criminals who are engaged in transnational networks of illicit activities, most notably drug smuggling. Ostensibly, there is nothing wrong in demanding this, as every country does not only have a right to close its borders to criminals but also a duty to its citizens to keep them safe from these criminals. However, where this becomes problematic is when it is said so bluntly and so repetitively that immigrants becomes synonymous with criminals. Not only has Trump created wide cleavages within American society, he has scapegoated entire communities to fuel his politics of division. Similarly, during his election campaign Trump said that he would ban all Muslims from troubled countries into coming to America, a pledge that was noticeably missing from his website the night he won the election. Whether this shows indecisiveness on Trump\u2019s part or a deliberate and calculated differentiating of \u2018campaign talk\u2019 and actual policy remains to be seen. Regardless, he has emboldened the bigots within America to perpetrate hate crime against Muslims.
\nTrump is noticeably struggling to appear \u2018presidential\u2019 as he has issued contradictory statements ever since he won the election. However, some of his recent statements appear to be a good change of track from past US policies that have proved to be disastrous. Most important in this regard is his policy position in Syria in which he has affirmed his campaign promise of withdrawing support from Syrian rebels and instead supporting Syrian government to help fight ISIS. It is indeed strange that up till now the US had not realised that destroying already existing state structures only brings anarchy and serves no higher purpose of securing human rights. Closer to home, Trump has offered to mediate between Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
\nNeedless to say, past US apathy towards the Kashmir dispute, the issue that is solely responsible for the hostilities between the nuclear-armed states, has not worked, and US involvement as a mediator may prove to be a good change to make India talk about Kashmir. With Trump everything is wild card, and it is hoped that for once optimists are proven correct. The other eventuality is just too terrifying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his first televised interview after winning the US presidential election, Donald Trump has reiterated his commitment to deport all illegal immigrants in the United States who have criminal records. What is essentially new about this is just the urgency with which Trump wishes to execute this as already under the Obama administration there was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial"},"yoast_head":"\n