--- title: Donald Trump Describes Deportations as 'Military Operation' description: President Trump described his Administration's deportation efforts as a "military operation." canonical: https://time.com/4680815/donald-trump-deportations-military-operation/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-23T18:41:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T11:36:04.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Described Deportations as a 'Military Operation' og:description: "We're getting really bad dudes out of this country." og:url: https://time.com/4680815/donald-trump-deportations-military-operation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0a132c97da21b3b/6988bb9c97cdff47ea6af93d/gettyimages-643814676.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. President Donald Trump discusses the federal budget as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (R) looks on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Described Deportations as a 'Military Operation' twitter:description: "We're getting really bad dudes out of this country." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0a132c97da21b3b/6988bb9c97cdff47ea6af93d/gettyimages-643814676.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Described Deportations as a 'Military Operation' by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:36 AM UTCPublished: Feb 23, 2017 6:41 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump discusses the federal budget as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (R) looks on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump discusses the federal budget as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (R) looks on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 22, 2017 in Washington, DC.Pool—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:36 AM UTCPublished: Feb 23, 2017 6:41 PM UTC President Trump described his Administration’s deportation efforts as a “military operation.” In a meeting with manufacturing CEOs, Trump [praised the efforts](http://time.com/4676959/donald-trump-deportation-rules-undocumented/) led by Homeland Security Secretary [John Kelly](http://time.com/donald-trump-drain-swamp/), a retired U.S. Marine Corps general. After saying Kelly had been “unbelievable at the border,” Trump said the U.S. is “getting really bad dudes out of this country, and at a rate that nobody’s ever seen before.” “And it’s a military operation, because what has been allowed to come into our country, when you see gang violence that you’ve read about like never before, and all of the things — much of that is people that are here illegally. And they’re rough and they’re tough, but they’ not tough like our people,” he said. “So we’re getting them out.” The Trump Administration has administered [sweeping new guidelines](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2017/02/21/secretary-kelly-issues-implementation-memoranda-border-security-and-interior) on how to handle undocumented immigrants. Under recently released memos by the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday, even immigrants who commit minor crimes could be at risk for speedy deportation. Speaking in Mexico City hours later, Kelly said there would be “no use of military forces” and “no mass deportations” in carrying out the orders, however. “No, repeat no use of military force in immigration operations,” he said. “Yes, we will approach this operation systematically … in an organized way, in a results-oriented way, in an operational way, in a human dignity way. This is the way great militaries do business.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4680815/donald-trump-deportations-military-operation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4680815/donald-trump-deportations-military-operation/"},"headline":"President Trump Described Deportations as a 'Military Operation'","datePublished":"2017-02-23T18:41:48.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T11:36:04.000Z","description":"President Trump described his Administration's deportation efforts as a \"military operation.\"","url":"https://time.com/4680815/donald-trump-deportations-military-operation/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Military","White House","Immigration","john kelly"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0a132c97da21b3b/6988bb9c97cdff47ea6af93d/gettyimages-643814676.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0a132c97da21b3b/6988bb9c97cdff47ea6af93d/gettyimages-643814676.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Donald Trump discusses the federal budget as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (R) looks on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 22, 2017 in Washington, DC.","caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump discusses the federal budget as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (R) looks on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 22, 2017 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4680815/donald-trump-deportations-military-operation/","name":"President Trump Described Deportations as a 'Military Operation'"}}]}] ```