Vivek Ramaswamy defends Trump plan for mass deportations

“Proud child of legal immigrants” from India says those who entered the country illegally shouldn’t be allowed to stay

By Arun Kumar

Indian American biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to co-lead with Elon Musk the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Donald Trump’s incoming administration, has defended the President-elect’s immigration plan for mass deportations.

“Donald Trump’s campaign promise was the largest mass deportation in American history, and he’s going to keep that promise,” he said on ABC News’ “This Week” Sunday.

READ: Trump making moves to bulldoze Biden’s climate initiatives (November 11th, 2024)

Defending Trump’s vow for a mass deportation force, he predicted that the tougher enforcement measures will also lead to undocumented immigrants leaving the country on their own.

“Not an iota, not a cent of government spending should go to subsidize this, not to sanctuary cities, not to federal aid to people who are in this country illegally, and we’re going to see a large number, by the millions, of self-deportations as well.”

Pressed on the fate of the so-called “Dreamers” — people who were brought to the United States as children without valid documentation — Ramaswamy declined to explicitly say how the incoming administration would approach this group of undocumented immigrants, which includes many adults who have spent most of their life in the US.

During his first term, the Trump administration attempted to rescind the Obama-era program that allowed such kids to remain in the country. “I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to this country, as the proud child of legal immigrants to the United States of America. If your first act of entering this country broke the law, that doesn’t allow you to remain in this country,” Ramaswamy said.

“One is, no migration without consent. Think about your nation like a body. Number two is that consent should only be granted, and should be granted to migrants who benefit the United States of America. But those who enter without consent must be removed.”

The President-elect would bring the country together, he said urging Democrats to give Trump a chance in office and called on them to resist efforts to cast him as a threat to democracy.

“What you’re hearing from Donald Trump is he is going to be a president for all Americans. He is a guy who, in that first term, he had crowds chanting ‘lock her up’ for Hillary Clinton. He didn’t prosecute her. I think Donald Trump is focused on what makes people’s lives better. And actually, my message to Democrats out there, even those who didn’t vote for Donald Trump, is to give him a chance to actually make your life better,” Ramaswamy said.

“I think it’s time to turn the page on a lot of these histrionics, or Hitler comparisons,” he added, before later saying that “success is unifying. Nothing’s going to unite this country more than economic growth.”

Meanwhile, an old video clip of Ramaswamy delivering the commencement address at St Xavier High School emerged, providing a sneak peek at what went behind the making of the man.

In the clip shared on X, the 18-year-old Ramaswamy, with confidence on his sleeve, could be heard urging his classmates to reflect on the journey ahead. “I have been racing my entire high school career,” Ramaswamy said, “but now, when we are finally crossing the finish line, I wish I could have stopped, just a little earlier, to catch a breath of the fresh air around me.”

Drawing on a quote from his English class, Ramaswamy explored the complex emotions surrounding graduation. “It is better to travel than it is to arrive,” he recalled, leaving him with mixed feelings about the moment.

“How am I supposed to feel right now?” he asked the audience. He then pondered the meaning of the word ‘commencement,’ noting its origins in French, where it means ‘to begin.’

“However, we use the same word for tonight, which marks the end. So, which is it really?” he questioned. “The climactic ending or simply the launch pad for what comes next?”

Ramaswamy spoke of the importance of looking at their shared experiences to find the answer. “The only answer lies in looking at our experience,” he said, emphasising that their time at St Xavier was just the beginning of a much larger journey.

Ramaswamy was born on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Tamil-speaking Brahmin parents from Kerala. He attended a Roman Catholic high school in Ohio and frequently visited a Hindu temple in Dayton with his family. Ramaswamy earned a biology degree from Harvard University and later graduated from Yale Law School.

He worked as a hedge fund investor, claiming to have made millions before completing his degree at Yale. In 2014, he founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech company that purchased patents for underdeveloped drugs from larger firms. He stepped down as CEO in 2021. By 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth at $630 million.