Trump Pursues Mass Deportations, Revives 19th-Century Expansionism as U.S. Marks 250 Years
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 4
Trump Pursues Mass Deportations, Revives 19th-Century Expansionism as U.S. Marks 250 Years
2 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 4
Summary
Trump has moved to deliver on his mass-deportation pledge while openly invoking a 19th-century vision of U.S. expansion, including talk of Greenland, the Panama Canal, Canada and Venezuela.
343 million Americans now live in a country that has expanded from 13 colonies to about 3.7 million square miles, a backdrop the report uses to frame Trump's agenda as a reversal of the modern immigration era.
14.8% of the U.S. population was foreign-born in 2024, matching the 1890 peak, and immigration accounted for 84% of population growth, helping explain why border pressures and demographic change have become central to Trump's politics.
Historians in the report trace that politics to long-running U.S. divides over who counts as American—between a civic nation shaped by immigration and a blood-and-descent vision tied to exclusion and territorial power.
With immigration falling 90%, can the U.S. economy sustain itself as its native-born population ages and the labor force shrinks?
Does the modern pursuit of Greenland conflict with the international laws on sovereignty that the United States itself helped to establish?
Trump’s Second Term: The Donroe Doctrine, Record Deportations, and the Crisis of U.S. Power at Home and Abroad
Overview
In early 2026, the Trump administration launched the 'Donroe Doctrine,' a bold policy of American primacy and hemispheric control, as outlined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and detailed in the national security strategy. This doctrine marked a return to imperial ambitions, leading to a major military intervention in Venezuela, the capture of President Maduro, and ongoing U.S. military presence in the region. At home, the administration expanded mass deportations, rapidly increasing detention capacity and enforcement budgets, which caused widespread human and economic impacts. These aggressive actions sparked legal battles, international backlash, and deep divisions within the United States and among its allies.