Trump’s Second Term Immigration Actions: Unprecedented and Harsh
The Trump 2.0 Presidency began with a flurry of bellicose executive orders promising a deportation initiative without precedent. Some of his worst ideas, such as restricting birthright citizenship, have been blocked by courts. Others are lying dormant waiting for a bureaucratic process to define the details of Trump’s utterances.
Real-Life Consequences of Trump’s Immigration Policies
In this post, I want to highlight the consequences of the Trump administration for real people. The examples I provide below are certainly not comprehensive. But each of them represents something that I would be very surprised to have seen in any other administration, Republican or Democrat.
Expulsion of Venezuelans Ignoring Court Orders
- On Saturday March 14, the administration expelled over 100 Venezuelans that they claimed were members of the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, despite a court order not to deport them or to turn around the deportation plane. None of these people had any type of hearing to determine whether, in fact, they were members of the gang.
Deportation of Lebanese Doctor Despite Valid Visa
- Also, on Saturday March 14, the administration deported Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese kidney transplant specialist at Brown Medical. Dr. Alawieh had a work visa issued by the US Consulate in Lebanon just days before her deportation. US Border officials can deport someone without a hearing only if there is evidence that they committed some type of fraud to get to the U.S. or if they were not entitled to the visa. US authorities have offered no explanation as to why Dr. Alawieh was deported and seem to have done so in violation of a court order not to deport her.
Arrest and Detention of Spouse of U.S. Citizen
- In January, after the inauguration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested Camila Muñoz at the airport in Puerto Rico. Although she overstayed a visa during COVID, she is married to an American and has a pending application for residence. Despite overstaying her visa, she remains eligible for residence. Due to this reality, DHS has generally not put people without criminal issues into removal proceedings when they have a residence application pending, even if they overstayed. She is now detained in Louisiana hundreds of miles from her home, husband, and stepson in Wisconsin.
Violent Detention of U.S. Permanent Resident
- Fabian Schmidt, a U.S. permanent resident returning to the U.S. from Germany was arrested at the airport and “violently interrogated” according to his family. Schmidt wound up in the hospital but has since returned to ICE detention. It is not clear what the basis for his arrest and detention are.
Permanent Resident Detained Due to “Foreign Policy Interests”
- Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident of the United States, was arrested and detained for deportation proceedings after Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally made a determination that his presence in the US has adverse foreign policy interests. Like several others, Khalil was hurriedly shipped to ICE detention facilities in Louisiana.
Deportation of Parents of U.S. Citizen Child with Cancer
- ICE deported the Mexican parents of a 10 year old U.S. citizen cancer patient. They were encountered at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas while on their way to a medical appointment for the girl. ICE also removed the U.S. citizen child with her parents.
Punitive Treatment of German Tourists by ICE
- ICE detained and deported German tourists that it could have easily simply chosen not to admit to the U.S. and allowed them to depart. Instead, Jessica Brösche and Lucas Sielaff were held in custody for several days before being deported to Germany.
Harsh Detention of British Tourist
- British tourist Rebecca Burke was detained for ten days for not having a work visa. Again, there are other ways to send a British citizen back home but ICE chose the most punitive measure.
U.S. Citizen Wrongfully Detained by ICE
- A U.S. citizen was pulled over by ICE agents with guns drawn and handcuffed because ICE thought he was an undocumented immigrant. While it resolved quickly, this reflects a recklessness by ICE that is enhanced over my decades of immigration law experience.
Trump’s Immigration Approach: Reckless Enforcement without Discretion
These are actual accounts of the impact that the Trump administration has had on people living in the United States. In my opinion, none of these events would have occurred in previous administrations. While US CBP denies admission to people every day and ICE deports people every day, these episodes show the fruition of Tom Homan’s plan not to use any discretion, prioritization or judgement in enforcing U.S. immigration law. This approach amounts to a reckless carpet bombing of American communities by agencies that have been given a green light to make Trump’s vision of America come true.