Trump says tariff threats made countries accept deported migrants; claims sharp fall in fentanyl smuggling
Washington DC, May 12
US President Donald Trump on Monday spoke about his administration's illegal immigration crackdown and anti-drug operations, and mentioned that nations unwilling to take back deported migrants eventually agreed after being warned of tariffs by Washington.
He also claimed a significant fall in fentanyl smuggling across US borders and lauded the American law enforcement for their service to the country.
He made the remarks as he hosted his second 'Rose Garden Club' dinner in honour of Police Week at the White House.
Trump said, "Since I took office, our administration has made nearly 200,000 criminal arrests nationwide, a record, and we're getting them off the streets and putting them in jail or in many cases sending them back to their lovely countries where they came from. And sometimes their country will say, "We don't want them, we're not taking them." I'll say, "That's okay, slap about a 25% tariff on their country," and they call back, "We would love to have them back immediately."
He informed that the Department of Homeland Security has removed nearly 615,000 illegal alien criminals from the United States for the past 12 months in a row and that zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States through the country's southern border.
Speaking about the issue of Fentanyl drug smuggling, he mentioned a whopping drop of over 60 per cent on the flow across our border is down by over 60%. He said that coming in by sea is down by 97%.
The US President lauded American authorities and law enforcement such as ICE, Homeland Security, US Marshals, ATF, FBI and the state and local police-- crediting them for the gains
"They're all incredible patriots, they're incredible people."
— ANI
Reader Comments
The 60% drop in fentanyl smuggling is impressive if true. But as an Indian, I'm cautious about believing all stats from this administration. Remember how they exaggerated numbers during covid? Still, cracking down on illegal immigration and drugs is something every country should do. We need similar strictness on our borders too.
Look, as a Canadian watching this closely, Trump's methods are controversial but get results. The 97% drop in maritime fentanyl trafficking is staggering. I just worry about the precedent - using tariffs as a weapon for everything. But I suppose when you're dealing with dangerous drugs and illegal immigration, desperate measures are needed.
Trump's approach is very transactional - "you don't take your criminals back, we impose tariffs". It works because countries like India also rely heavily on trade. But I remember when India refused to take back some of its deported citizens from the US years ago - eventually cooperation happened. This is just more aggressive diplomacy. 🇺🇸🇮🇳
While I appreciate the tough stance on drugs, calling deportees' home countries "their lovely countries" feels condescending. India has its own challenges but we don't need that tone. Also, 200k criminal arrests - how many are just people overstaying visas vs actual criminals? The line between illegal immigration and criminality gets blurred here.
The fentanyl stats are remarkable if verified. 60% drop overall and 97% by sea? That's serious progress on a crisis that's killed hundreds of thousands. I'm from the UK and we have our own drug problems, but nowhere near the US level
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