Trump mulls detention camps for deporting migrants if reelected in Time interview: ‘not leaving them in the country’

Trump has made illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border a centrepiece of his campaign against President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is running for a second four-year term. Immigration is a top issue for voters, according to national opinion polls.

Trump said he would use National Guard troops to assist in his planned deportation efforts, but also did not rule out deploying active military forces to help.

“I don’t think I’d have to do that. I think the National Guard would be able to do that. If they weren’t able to, then I’d use the military,” he said.

Trump was asked about the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, a post-Civil War law that prohibits the deployment of the military against civilians.

“Well, these aren’t civilians. These are people that aren’t legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country,” Trump said.

On Monday, Biden and his Mexican counterpart, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said their administrations would soon take steps to decrease illegal crossings at the southern border while also addressing the economic and security problems that cause people to migrate.

Rise in Mexican cartel violence fuels record migration to US

Trump has used dehumanising terminology to describe immigrants in the US illegally, calling them “animals” when talking about alleged criminal acts, and saying they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” a phrase that has drawn criticism as xenophobic and echoing Nazi rhetoric.

In response to the criticism, Trump has said he had no idea that German dictator Adolf Hitler had used similar language.