1 in 25 U.S. households would be affected by a possible mass deportation

Report Issue

Please complete the required fields.

Your Name

Email

Reason (required)
This post contains broken linksPost has incorrect informationPost has spamCopyright IssueOther

Description

Submit

Former President Donald Trump is sticking to a campaign promise to launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” which could tear apart millions of American families that are a mix of citizens and noncitizens.

Out of 130 million U.S. households, about 5.6 million — or 1 in 25 — include undocumented immigrants, according to Pew Research Center.

In an interview with Time magazine published this week, Trump reiterated his campaign trail promise to rid the country of people without legal permission to be here. He said he would first use the National Guard and local police, and then the military if warranted, to force the immigrants “back from where they came.”

“These are people that aren’t legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country. An invasion like probably no country has ever seen before,” he told Time.

While Trump often mentions migrants who have recently crossed the border into the U.S., the reality is that a large part of undocumented immigrants have deep-seated roots in the country and an operation targeting them would have significant ripple effects in American society.

Here are some of the numbers:

-There are about 20 million people in households with mixed immigration statuses, including about 10.3 million people who are undocumented and 9.7 million others who are either citizens or other immigrants with a form of legal permission to live in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center data.

-Most undocumented immigrants have been here on average for 16 years, with the number varying by state; In California, the average time is 20.3 years.

-There are about 825,000 undocumented children who are 17 years and younger in the U.S., according to the data.

-Additionally, there are more than 3.4 million undocumented immigrants in the country with U.S.-born children younger than 18.

A mass deportation of undocumented immigrants would mean some family members would be removed and others left behind, including millions of children or other U.S.-born or naturalized family members. Some who are citizens could also be swept out or have no option but to follow family.