President-elect Donald Trump said on day 1 of his administration the border will be closed and criminals getting deported, calling it “common sense.”

“It’s going to be closed very strongly. It’s going to be closed and we’re going to have to take people out that are criminals,” Mr. Trump told reporters Wednesday evening at the U.S. Capitol.

“We have people from jails from all over the world and from mental institutions, and as you know, they’re going to have to be removed, and it’s one of the reasons I won the election in a landslide,” he said. “The people of this country don’t want murderers walking down their farms or their streets or their cities.”

He railed against illegal immigrants with criminal records being on the street and not in jail.

The Senate is set to consider an immigration bill Thursday called the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia college student murdered by a Venezuelan who illegally crossed the border but was released by the Biden administration. It passed the House on Tuesday.

It would mandate any illegal immigrant to be detained and deported if they are charged with theft or burglary.

“We’re going to get a country back again and we’re going to be really governed by common sense,” he said. “These are the principles of common sense. We’re not going to be governed by stupid people. We’re going to common sense, we’re going to be respected all over the world, again very soon.”

Closing the border and deporting illegal immigrants was a major focal point of Mr. Trump’s campaign. He has continuously vowed to take care of the border on day 1, and has already appointed people to his Cabinet to take on the issue.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.