White House:

“Hundreds of illegal migrants already deported”

Arrest of a migrant in Florida(Bild: APA/AP)

Donald Trump has already made good on some of his threats. "The largest mass deportation in history is underway," said Trump's spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Thursday, announcing that "hundreds of illegal migrants" had already been removed from the country.

Of 538 people arrested, "hundreds" had been deported in army planes, Leavitt explained in the online service X. During his inauguration on Monday, US head of state Trump announced his intention to deport "millions and millions" of irregular migrants. He also declared a state of emergency on the border with Mexico and announced the deployment of more US soldiers there.

Emergency shelter for migrants in Mexico(Bild: APA/AP)

The Republican-led US Congress also approved a bill this week to extend pre-trial detention for foreign suspects without valid residence documents. 

Right-wing populist Trump's goal, which he announced during the election campaign, is to drastically reduce the number of the estimated eleven million undocumented immigrants in the USA.

Mexico sets up tent camps for deportees
Mexico is already preparing for the mass deportation from the USA. Marines set up olive green tents on Thursday in the border town of Matamoros, which lies opposite Brownsville in Texas, as a correspondent for the AFP news agency observed. The local authorities announced that the tent camp could accommodate around 3,000 people.

The Mexican government had announced that it would set up twelve reception camps for migrants deported from the USA: nine for Mexican citizens and three for people of other nationalities. The reception program is called "Mexico Embraces You".