[트럼프 재집권] “Expulsion immediately”… Anti-immigrant wave sweeps across the globe

▶ Trump’s ‘anti-immigration success formula’ is popular as the European far-right also follows suit

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally held in Austin, Texas, last October. 2024.10.25[로이터]

Attention is focused on the anti-immigration policies of President-elect Donald Trump, who promised to deport a record number of illegal immigrants from his first day in office.

The anti-immigration policies of Trump’s second term, which will become stronger, are expected to have a significant impact on Europe, where much more immigrants than the United States are flowing in due to wars and civil strife and economic difficulties in the Middle East and Africa.

Trump, who was elected as the 47th president of the United States, is preparing unprecedented anti-immigration policies.

During the election campaign, he attracted conservative votes by highlighting anti-immigrant policies with harsher rhetoric than during his first term in office, such as declaring that he would close the southern border from the first day of office and carry out the largest operation to deport illegal immigrants in U.S. history.

At a recent campaign rally, he said, “The first thing I will do on my first day in office is to speak to the President of Mexico,” and warned, “If we do not prevent criminals and drugs from entering our country, we will impose a 25% tariff on all Mexican products entering the United States.” did it

President-elect Trump claimed that the Joe Biden administration is not properly managing the southern border, leading to a large influx of illegal immigrants, committing various crimes and taking away jobs.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally held in Austin, Texas, last October. 2024.10.25[로이터]

During a presidential debate last September, an unfounded conspiracy theory was spread that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and cats. At the end of last year, he caused controversy by comparing immigrants to ‘pests’ and saying, “Immigrants pollute the blood of America.”

Although there were many inappropriate remarks mixed with lies and not facts and inciting hatred of immigrants, American voters chose Trump, who at least proposed a ‘solution’, over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, who failed to come up with a proper solution to illegal immigration.

Even during his first term in office, President-elect Trump pursued a policy of suppressing illegal immigration through border control, including promoting the construction of a wall on the Mexican border and strengthening border patrol.

His hard border policy had the effect of lowering public opinion’s resistance to introducing similar policies in Europe.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni argued that the African seas should be blocked to block migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Italy in the September 2022 general election. It is similar to Trump building an anti-immigrant wall on the Mexican border.

What is more crucial is that European far-right parties, such as Trump, who used the immigration issue as a means of rallying support, laid the foundation for a leap forward by highlighting the issue of illegal immigration, which had been avoided by existing political parties, to the forefront.

As dissatisfaction with immigrants added to the already difficult economic situation due to the war in Ukraine, European voters became enthusiastic about the anti-immigration messages of far-right parties that scratched an itch other than ‘humanity’.

As a result of following Trump’s ‘anti-immigration success formula’, an unprecedented far-right fever broke out in Europe. According to Politico, there are currently six countries in Europe where far-right forces are in power: Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.

In the Netherlands, a coalition government was formed led by the far-right Freedom Party, and in Sweden, the far-right Swedish Democratic Party became the second party in parliament. In last September’s Austrian general election, the far-right Freedom Party took first place.

However, unlike the United States, which can strongly pursue anti-immigration policies at the federal level, the EU is a system in which multiple countries participate, so there are limits to the spread of Trump’s extreme policies throughout Europe.

However, Trump’s anti-immigration policy has had a significant impact in strengthening the position of far-right parties in Europe and changing social discourse. If the number of people in favor of anti-immigrant policies that will become stronger in Trump’s second term in office increases, the possibility that an ‘anti-immigrant wave’ will engulf Europe cannot be ruled out.