Trump Says He Won’t Do Business With Countries Who Refuse To Take Back Migrants

US President-elect Donald Trump promised to expel illegal immigrants to their country of origin by military force, and said he won’t do business with those countries who refused to take them back.

“We have criminals coming into our countries that we’ve never seen, we’ve never seen before. We have people coming in at levels and at record numbers that we’ve never seen before. And I’ll only do what the law allows, but I will go up to the maximum level of what the law allows. And I think in many cases, the sheriffs and law enforcement is going to need help. We’ll also get National Guard,” Trump said during an interview for Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ issue.

“I’ll get them into every country, I’ll get them into every country, or we won’t do business with those countries,” he asserted, adding that he would impose substantial tariffs on these countries. “When they send products in, they will have substantial tariffs, and it’s going to make it very hard for them to do business with us.”

Trump’s entire campaign focused on expelling illegal immigrants, after records showed thousands of immigrants entering illegally through the borders during the Biden administration. Trump has promised a sweeping overhaul of the immigration policy, including the mass deportation of millions of illegal immigrants.

Trump has already assigned his “border czar” Tom Homan to undertake the largest deportation operation in US history. He also threatened to impose a 25% import tariff on Canada and Mexico for allowing millions of migrants and deadly drugs like fentanyl to flow across the borders during Biden’s term, reported the New York Post.

The President-elect also expressed hope that he won’t have to build too many migrant camps and signalled a desire to expel them quickly. Trump also said he’s planning on deporting migrant families together, so he doesn’t think parents, regardless of their immigration status, will have to be separated from their children.

The US President-elect was named Time’s “Person of the Year” for the second time, an honour he first received in 2016 after his historic presidential election victory. Time praised him for his “comeback of historic proportions,” reshaping American politics and the presidency.

“For marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world, Donald Trump is Time’s 2024 Person of the Year,” Time Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs wrote in a letter to readers.

This year’s award also saw Trump competing against other influential figures, including Kamala Harris, Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Kate, the Princess of Wales.