'You're destroying your countries': Is Europe finally heeding Trump's warning on illegal immigration?

In June, the European Union responded to growing concerns about illegal immigration, raised by both President Donald Trump and European citizens, by unveiling more stringent border entry regulations for its 27 member states.

The EU reached an agreement on new, tougher migration and asylum policies. These measures are aimed at ensuring that undocumented migrants entering the EU are processed efficiently, with those not meeting the asylum criteria swiftly transferred to deportation facilities in non-EU countries.

Individuals seeking asylum will undergo screenings to verify their identity, assess security risks, and evaluate their health status before being admitted into any asylum system. Border officials will now systematically monitor and document the entry and exit of non-EU nationals, employing biometric tools such as fingerprinting and facial recognition. Furthermore, all EU countries are mandated to cooperate and share relevant information.

According to the Associated Press, the provisional agreement reached by the EU’s principal institutions is set to be presented to EU legislators and governments, where it is anticipated to receive approval.

In a related event, Greek coast guard officers managed a group of predominantly male illegal migrants after they disembarked from a cargo ship at the port of Lavrio, south of Athens, on July 10, 2025. This group had been redirected from Crete, which has recently seen an influx of over 2,000 arrivals from Libya, causing concern among local authorities and tourism stakeholders. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)

Alan Mendoza, the founder and executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, expressed to a news agency that “The EU’s demographic shifts are altering Europe’s cultural landscape. We are now encountering challenges with the integration of newcomers into local customs.”

While the U.K. is not part of the EU, he said, “Britain’s efforts are behind the new EU rules.” Noting the country has “not managed to have offshore migrant holding centers, which would make sure Britain is not seen as a soft touch.”

Illegal migrants try to board smugglers’ boats in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Gravelines, northern France on Sept. 27, 2025.  (Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)

Other experts say the longer countries take to fix the problem, the harder it will be to deal with. Some say it’s already too late.

While Europe’s workaday men and women have clearly seen the problems of illegal immigration for years, their leaders are only just getting the message. 

President Donald Trump delivers remarks to the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on Sept. 23, 2025.  (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump told world leaders about the damage caused by a flood of undocumented migrants into Europe during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last year. “You’re destroying your countries,” he said. “Europe is in serious trouble; they’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before.”

Migrants from Tunisia and Libya arrive on an Italian Coast Guard boat at the Pelagie Island of Lampedusa, Italy, on Aug. 1, 2020. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

Just last week, Vice President JD Vance commented on the stabbing death of the 18-year-old British man who was stabbed to death. 

In part, Vance posted, “Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit. His murder is as tragic as it is enraging. He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also made reference to the topic during a speech to commemorate D-Day in France on the weekend. “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not,” he said.

Elsewhere in the EU, Spain seems to have broken with the rest of the bloc on its new stance on undocumented immigration. The country decided to legalize half a million undocumented migrants.

A migrant walks by a makeshift settlement where migrants evicted from a former high school last week are camping outdoors in the middle of winter in Badalona, Spain

A migrant walks by a makeshift settlement where migrants evicted from a former high school last week are camping outdoors in the middle of winter in Badalona, Spain, Dec. 26, 2025.  (Bruna Casas / Reuters)

“When undocumented migrants arrive, they get papers, and they get social security,” Javier Negre, owner of the La Derecha Diario newspaper, told News Agency. He says a lot of the push to house migrants has come via nongovernmental organizations. “NGOs had a big business, and they promoted illegal immigration,” he says.

Another problem is that many undocumented migrants don’t choose to integrate into their new domicile. “They don’t have the same values,” Negre said. “We import a lot of people, and some realize they can steal iPhones and wallets,” he said, commenting on the rise in crimes.

Critics of the move mostly came from the European left and NGOs. Mélissa Camara, from the French Green party, said the deal was “a historic setback” for human rights in the bloc,” the Associated Press reported.

“The legalization of return hubs outside the European Union, the green light for the detention of minors, home visits inspired by ICE practices: the legal arsenal serving a xenophobic ideology is now complete,” she said.

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