Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has instructed the country’s foreign ministry to prepare its consulates in the U.S. for potential assistance to Polish citizens affected by President Donald Trump’s new deportation plans. T
he directive, issued on January 21, raised eyebrows, particularly from former foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz, who dismissed it as “scare tactics.” Czaputowicz argued there was no evidence to suggest that Polish citizens had entered the U.S. illegally.
On January 20, Trump signed several executive orders aimed at addressing illegal migration, prompting concern among the Tusk-led coalition about the potential deportation of undocumented Polish citizens. A 2016 estimate from the liberal Gazeta Wyborcza suggested around 50,000 Polish individuals in the U.S. lacked proper documentation, though many had simply let their passports expire. There’s no proof these individuals entered illegally. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 data shows roughly 8.81 million Polish Americans.
Michał Kamiński, a senator from Tusk’s Third Way party, pointed out that Trump’s recent crackdown on undocumented migrants in Chicago, a city with a large Polish community, could signal trouble. Kamiński suggested that Trump’s positive stance towards Poland during his campaign and his praise for the country’s defense spending and stance on Russian gas would likely crumble if this deportation effort targeted Polish nationals.
Tusk, however, seemed to prepare for the worst, saying Poland would “warmly welcome” any citizens seeking to return. He assured the public that although there were no specific reports of Polish nationals being targeted, the consulates should be on alert. Tusk emphasized Poland’s growing job market and improving living standards, inviting any returnees to seize the opportunities available.
This move was sharply criticized by the ruling PiS party, which accused Tusk of overreacting and risking Poland’s relations with the U.S. Czaputowicz took to Polish radio on January 22, claiming Tusk and his foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, were stoking fear and undermining U.S.-Poland ties for domestic political gain. Czaputowicz noted that Trump’s policy merely enforced international law, emphasizing that Poland had recently suspended asylum claims at its eastern border.
Czaputowicz also suggested that Tusk’s party was trying to manipulate the issue for political advantage as Poland nears its presidential election in May. Despite a strong relationship between Trump and Poland’s PiS-aligned President Andrzej Duda, Duda notably didn’t attend Trump’s second inauguration, signaling a shift in their dynamic.
