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27-01-2025
WASHINGTON: Immigrant rights groups have said they are digging in their heels and preparing for a protracted fight as the blueprint for United States President Donald Trump’s vast immigration crackdown takes shape.
In a series of rapid-fire orders during his first week in office, Trump has sought to overhaul nearly every aspect of US immigration.
He rescinded guidance limiting where immigration raids can take place, cancelled asylum claims at the southern border and grounded refugees already approved for entry into the US, as part of a wider suspension of the US refugee program.
Though widespread arrests have yet to materialize, immigration rights advocates on Friday said Trump has already caused mayhem for those seeking refuge in the US and sent a chill among immigrant communities already in the country.
“Costly, cruel and chaotic are the words that characterize the wave of extreme policies that the Trump administration has unleashed in its efforts to purge immigrants from our country,” Vanessa Cardenas, the executive director of the advocacy group America’s Voice, said during a call with reporters.
“The chaos and fear is the point.”
‘Unprecedented powers’
After a campaign defined by dehumanizing rhetoric about migrants and asylum seekers, Trump took his second oath of office on Monday, pledging immediate changes to the US immigration system.
His administration has already issued over a dozen executive orders and policy changes establishing hardline policies.
On Friday’s call with reporters, Nayna Gupta, the policy director for the American Immigration Council, said Trump’s actions reveal ambitions beyond his stated desire to arrest immigrants with criminal records.
“What Trump’s orders make clear is that they are outlining immediate actions to hurt all immigrants: the 13 million undocumented people with years of life in the US, people with lawful protections, asylum seekers, those with non-immigrant visas already in our country, and those seeking to immigrate here legally,” she said.
She said many of the administration’s early actions “invoke unprecedented powers”. Several have already been challenged in court, with more legal action expected.
The policy changes have been vast.
For undocumented immigrants already in the US, Trump is poised to increase deportations through expedited removals and increased cooperation with local law enforcement.
His Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also removed a decade-old policy prohibiting immigration arrests at “sensitive” locations including schools, hospitals and churches. His Department of Justice, meanwhile, has ordered federal prosecutors to investigate local officials who obstruct immigration enforcement.
On Friday, US media reported Trump’s DHS has also given its agents power to remove individuals legally admitted into the country under former President Joe Biden’s humanitarian parole program. Nationals from four countries Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela would be affected.
Meanwhile, those seeking safety at the US’s southern border face new obstacles under Trump.
As one of his first moves in office, Trump declared a national emergency at the border and deployed troops there. The president also suspended asylum processing and cancelled the Customs and Border Protection agency’s CBP One app, used to schedule asylum appointments. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
