Donald Trump told NBC News on Thursday that one of his first priorities after taking office in January will be to make the US border "strong". In fact, when asked about his campaign promise of mass deportations, Trump said his administration would have "no choice" but to carry them out.
At the same time, he emphasized that he sees his sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris as a mandate to "bring common sense" to the country.
"Obviously we have to make the border strong and we have to. At the same time, we want people to come to our country," he said. "And you know, I'm not one to say, 'No, you can't come.' We want people to come."
As a candidate, Trump had repeatedly pledged to carry out the "largest deportation operation in American history." Asked about the cost of his plan, he said: “There is no question of price. It's not – really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they're going back to those countries because they won't stay here. There is no price."
It's unclear how many illegal immigrants there are in the U.S., but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deputy director Patrick Lechleitner told NBC News in July that a massive deportation operation would pose a huge economic challenge.
"I think we're going to talk," Trump added, referring to Vladimir Putin, during the interview he gave to NBC. The Russian president had earlier said he was open to talks with Trump.
Source: protothema.gr