Trump ventures deeper into anti-immigrant language, calls people from Somalia ‘garbage’
NEW YORK, Dec 5: He said it four times in seven seconds: Somali immigrants in the United States are “garbage.” It was no mistake. In fact, President Donald Trump’s rhetorical attacks on immigrants have been building since he said Mexico was sending “rapists” across the border during his presidential campaign announcement a decade ago.
He’s also echoed rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler and called the 54 nations of Africa “s–hole countries.” But with one flourish closing a two-hour Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Trump amped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric even further – and ditched any claim that his administration was only seeking to remove people in the US illegally.
“We don’t want em in our country,” Trump said five times of the nation’s 260,000 people of Somali descent. “Let ‘em go back to where they came from and fix it.” The assembled Cabinet members cheered and applauded. Vice President JD Vance could be seen pumping a fist. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, sitting to the president’s immediate left, told Trump on-camera, “Well said.”
The two-minute finale offered a riveting display in a nation that prides itself as being founded and enriched by immigrants, alongside an ugly history of enslaving millions of them and limiting who can come in.
Trump’s US Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and deportations have reignited an age-old debate – and widened the nation’s divisions – over who can be an American, with Trump telling tens of thousands of American citizens, among others, that he doesn’t want them by virtue of their family origin. (PTI)
Indian nationals among delivery riders detained for working illegally in UK
London, Dec 5: Indians are among 171 delivery riders caught working illegally in a UK-wide crackdown and have been detained for deportation from the country, the British government has said.
The UK Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams undertook an ‘Operation Equalise’ over seven days last month, which involved stopping to check the documents of delivery riders operating in villages, towns and cities across Britain.
Those found to be working illegally, which also included Bangladeshi and Chinese nationals, were arrested on the spot and detained for removal to the countries of their origin. “On 17 November, officers were deployed to the High Street in Newham (east London). Four riders of Bangladeshi and Indian nationality were arrested for illegal working. All four were detained for removal,” the Home Office said in a statement on Thursday, giving some breakdowns on a total figure of 171 arrests.
“And on 25 November, officers attended Norwich city centre (eastern England) where they conducted a crime reduction operation. Three riders of Indian nationality were arrested with two detained for removal. The third individual was placed on strict immigration bail,” it stated.
The Home Office said the crackdowns form part of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s “sweeping reforms” to tackle illegal migration in Britain, which includes increasing deportations.
According to its latest data, the government claims its enforcement action to disrupt illegal working last year reached “record breaking levels”, with over 11,000 checks and 8,000 arrests – a 51 per cent and 63 per cent rise, respectively.
Nearly 50,000 people with no right to remain in the UK are said to have been removed since July 2024, with people smuggling arrests, convictions and seizures reportedly up by 33 per cent in the past 12 months.
“These results should send a clear message: if you are working illegally in this country, you will be arrested and removed,” said UK Border Security Minister Alex Norris. (PTI)
