Trump won’t rule out family separations during his promised mass deportation of migrants

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — Former President Donald Trump on Thursday said the cost to deport millions of undocumented immigrants is justified and would not rule out separating families made up of citizens and noncitizens.

“It’ll cost trillions of dollars to keep these people, and I’m talking about in particular starting with the criminals,” Trump told NBC News in an interview during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. “That’s costing us a lot more than deporting. But we have no choice, regardless, we have no choice. We’re going to have to deport.”

When pressed, Trump provided no details on how he would pay for his plan, which could cost billions of dollars to implement at scale. Trump spent much of his first term fighting with Congress to give him money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, an expensive undertaking that the legislative branch never agreed to fund. Ultimately, he took the money from other parts of the Pentagon budget.

Asked whether he would deport undocumented immigrants who are part of mixed-status families, like those married to American citizens or those who are parents to American citizens, Trump simply said, “Provisions will be made, but we have to get the criminals out.”

The former president did not elaborate on the provisions he would make for mixed-status families.

Trump also brushed off a question about whether local law enforcement would be willing to help execute mass deportations, ignoring that some have said they are uninterested in assisting.

“They want to do their job,” Trump said. “The Border Patrol wants to do their job. They would have a much easier job if they didn’t.”

Trump’s remarks came during a packed day of events near the border, where he took a tour of the fence line and addressed the media.

Trump blasted Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who are in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention this week. Trump blamed Harris and President Joe Biden for “unleash[ing] a deadly plague of migrant crime” in the U.S.

“We had it stopped,” Trump said, referring to his administration, before accusing Biden and Harris of not doing enough to secure the border, adding: “The first day in they just said, ‘We’re not doing anything, we’re not doing anything.'”

Trump also criticized Walz, saying the governor “lied like hell last night” during his speech at the convention, and alleged Harris will “lie just like the rest of them lied” in her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday night.

This is the former president’s first time visiting the border in Arizona this year, though his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, has visited this spot this year.

Trump has visited other sections of the border, in Texas, twice since launching his re-election bid.

Garrett Haake and Jake Traylor reported from Sierra Vista, Arizona, and Alexandra Marquez reported from Washington.