"No other choice"

Trump plans mass deportations after re-election

Former US President Donald Trump has welcomed the failure of a bill on migration in the Senate and announced massive deportations in the event of his re-election. "From day one, I will end the entire open borders policy of the Biden administration and we will launch the largest national deportation operation in the history of the United States," Trump declared at a rally in the US state of South Carolina on Saturday (local time).

"We have no other choice," the Republican emphasized. The rejection of the legislative package was "a great victory that every conservative should celebrate", Trump continued.

Legislative package fails due to rejection by Republicans
On Wednesday, a legislative package worth 118 billion dollars (around 110 billion euros) failed due to opposition from Republicans in the US Senate. The so-called National Security Supplementary Act would have included 60 billion dollars to support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian war of aggression, 14.1 billion dollars for Israel and 20.2 billion dollars for border security. The compromise negotiated by Democrats and Republicans also provided for numerous changes to immigration policy.

The linking of foreign aid with the issue of US border security was originally a concession made by Biden's governing party to the Republicans. The reason for the Republicans' current resistance is the rejection by Trump, who wants to recapture the White House in the presidential election in November - and intends to use border policy as a campaign issue.

The right-wing populist has openly positioned himself against the reform package, putting pressure on his Republican MPs to let it fail. The House of Lords is now considering a package that completely decouples foreign aid from border policy.