Former Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd, in a recent appearance on Newsmax, said President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policies would not only tighten border security and intensify deportation efforts but could also prompt significant self-deportations among migrants who might prefer to leave the U.S. voluntarily to avoid a deportation record that could prevent future reentry.
In a Saturday interview on “Wake Up America Weekend,” Judd discussed his expectations for Trump’s immigration policies, particularly their capacity to prompt voluntary departure among many migrants.
When asked to comment on Trump’s potential enforcement strategy, Judd highlighted an approach prioritizing border security and interior deportations.
“The first thing that you’re going to focus on is the border,” Judd explained. “Because what you don’t want to do is remove one person and then let one person in.” By securing the border first, he argued, Trump’s plan would prevent newly deported individuals from being "replaced" by others entering the country. “Once you do that, you have the resources to … look at … employer sanctions [and] street removals,” he added, suggesting the initiative would enhance resources available to enforce immigration policies internally.
Judd continued by explaining how Trump’s strategy, in his view, will effectively deter migrants from remaining in the U.S. illegally.
“You’re going to see an awful lot of self-deportations,” he said. He argued that many individuals would voluntarily return to their countries of origin rather than risk obtaining a deportation record that could block any possibility of legally reentering the U.S. in the future.
“These individuals are not going to want to have that deportation on their record because they’re ultimately going to want to come back to the United States at some time,” Judd explained, suggesting that the policy could deter many undocumented individuals from staying in the country.
In Judd’s view, Trump’s policy would address three critical aspects of immigration enforcement: border security, interior removals, and self-deportations. “It’s going to be very effective,” he said, “because you’re going to see threefold. You’re going to see self-deportations, you’re going to see border security … and then you’re going to see interior enforcement.”
According to Judd, these combined efforts would represent a departure from the current administration's “hands-tied” approach, which he argued had prevented Border Patrol agents from effectively deterring illegal immigration.
Judd also shared his expectations for Mexico’s role in immigration enforcement under Trump. Referring to Trump’s previous success in implementing the “Remain in Mexico” policy — requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases were processed —Judd stated that Trump would likely reapply similar pressure on the Mexican government to support U.S. immigration initiatives.
“I expect Mexico to actually step up to the plate,” Judd said, pointing out that Mexico’s cooperation could lead to a “huge drop in illegal immigration.” He argued that Mexico would respond to avoid potential economic sanctions, explaining that Trump had previously threatened tariffs that would exceed the income Mexican cartels generate through illegal immigration.
“If Mexico steps to the plate, we’re going to see a huge drop in illegal immigration,” Judd concluded.
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