On the eve of his swearing-in ceremony, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump told supporters that he would implement anti-immigration measures from day one of his second term in office.
“By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt.
“All the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home,” the Republican said at a rally in Washington.
As during his election campaign, Trump used broad generalisations and portrayed undocumented migrants living in the U.S. as criminals.
While there has been a rise in crime in some areas of the U.S., experts attribute this to complex socio-political causes.
There is no evidence of a migrants-driven crime wave, nor of migrants committing crimes at higher rates than U.S. nationals.
One of Trump’s key election promises was to carry out mass deportations.
To implement this plan, Trump has nominated several right-wing hardliners to join his government.
According to U.S. media, the first raids are set to begin shortly after his swearing-in on Monday.
These are initially planned in Chicago and may also extend to other cities.
The action is scheduled to last for a week.
