Trump's ex-immigration chief Chad Wolf says Americans must get used to mass illegal migrant deportations again and reveals how local police can help

Americans need to get used to migrant deportations again as chaos engulfs the border, Donald Trump's former border boss Chad Wolf told DailyMail.com exclusively.

Wolf, who served as the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), wants to reaffirm that removing individuals who are in the U.S. illegally is a 'fundamental' part of the immigration system.

Under President Joe Biden, over 7.3 million migrants have unlawfully crossed into the U.S. escalating into a full-blown 'crisis.' 

'The ability to remove individuals or deport individuals is just a fundamental part of our immigration system, of any country's immigration system,' Wolf told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview at the EU-US Forum. 'I think we need to get back to that concept.'

'The idea [is] that if folks come here illegally, and they don't have a legal right to remain, they need to be removed,' Wolf said. 'And if they won't voluntarily remove themselves, then they need to be removed.' 

But dealing with the number of migrants who have crossed illegally is going to take time and new tactics, which could include the deployment of local law enforcement to deport illegal immigrants.

In particular, Wolf suggested using Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE's) 287(g) program, which allows the agency to delegate to state and local law enforcement officials the authority to perform some duties of immigration officers. 

'There are programs designed - the 287(g) program that ICE runs - to have local law enforcement help some federal immigration authorities.' 

According to ICE protocol, the program enhances 'collaboration with state and local law enforcement partners to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of noncitizens who undermine the safety of our nation’s communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.'

The former DHS Acting Secretary told DailyMail.com: 'I think there's a there's a strong desire to do that.'

And that desire emanates from Wolf's former boss, Donald Trump. 

Former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told DailyMail.com that the U.S. needs to get back to understanding the concept of deportation for individuals who cross into the country illegally, adding he supports using local and state police to do so

Since President Joe Biden came into office in 2021, over 7 million migrants have illegally crossed into the U.S.

Migrants spend the night on the floor at Boston's Logan Airport in January 

Wold told DailyMail.com he supports the idea of tasking local law enforcement  with deportation and removal responsibilities, as his former boss Donald Trump has suggested

ICE's 287(g) program would be critical in allowing law enforcement personnel to conduct immigration related duties 

The former president has repeatedly expressed his inclination to crackdown on illegal immigration by expelling many of the migrants who have come into the country unlawfully. 

'We have to deport a lot of people, and they have to start immediately,' Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity during a February interview in Texas on the U.S.-Mexico borer.

'It's going to be the local police are going to turn them over, and we're going to have to move them back to their country,' the former president added. 

Trump also floated granting police 'immunity' in order 'to give the job what they have to do.' 

Wolf told DailyMail.com he is in favor of the idea, though he conceded that some local law enforcement officials have pushed back on it. 

'You have some elected sheriffs that just don't want to do that because of maybe, perhaps, their community or the district that they represent and they live in.'

'But on the other hand, there are a vast majority that actually want to help. They want to make their communities safer.'

'I think we got to give them the ability to help,' Wolf said, adding that the process to do so may be complicated but 'there is a way to do it.' 

The former border boss also said the deportation solution is befitting of the immigration problem, which he called the worst in U.S. history. 

Immigration and border security in the U.S. has never been worse, Wolf said

Wolf said that he would be happy to serve Trump 

'We're experiencing the worst border security crisis the country's ever experienced,' he told DailyMail.com. 'We're not in a good state.' 

He noted how the situation along the U.S.-Mexico border has turned into a humanitarian and security crisis under the Biden administration and DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas' leadership. 

And that problem is now spreading to communities across the country. 

There's a different way to secure the border and protect Americans, Wolf said, and he noted how the polls show Americans want a new approach to the immigration system. 

When pressed by DailyMail.com whether he would want to be the man to implement that new approach under a potential second Trump presidency, Wolf smiled. 

'Anytime that you're asked to serve any president, but particularly President Trump, you're always happy to serve. So I'm always willing and happy to serve.' 

Though, Wolf admitted he has not had any discussions with the former president about the possibility of joining his cabinet should Trump get elected. 

Still, Wolf took the opportunity to heap praise on the former commander-in-chief for bringing immigration and border security to the center stage of politics. 

'Look, he brought immigration and border security to the to the forefront of what we are talking about now, and showed that there's a different way to do this.'

'A lot of politicians just never wanted to go there. So to actually be able to serve under someone like that, it's actually really refreshing.'

If Wolf does get his hands back on the levers of DHS power, though, he said he has some ideas of what needs to be done to properly address the crisis. 

'There's some fundamental things that need to be done that send a signal to the traffickers and the smugglers and to others who are pushing millions of individuals across that border,' he told DailyMail.com. 

'You got to restart border wall construction in priority locations, you got to let border officers do their job instead of having them be in processing facilities, you can restart a number of different policies that we knew were effective.'

'I was supportive during the first four years of the Trump administration, and believed his vision on how to secure that border,' Wolf said.