Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council (AIC), said there are currently an estimated 13 million to 15 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and the reality of mass deportation is complicated.
“The president can significantly increase immigration enforcement, but the United States does not have the capability right now to round up and deport millions of people,” Reichlin-Melnick told AFP.
“It would require the hiring of tens of thousands of new law enforcement agents and staff and require the United States to build hundreds of new detention centres and hundreds of new courtrooms.”
Reichlin-Melnick said it was unclear that Congress would be willing to spend the amount of money it would cost to deport millions of people.
“It would require Congress to give the administration tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions, of dollars,” he said.
