Obviously, the big political news of the past couple of days has come from the Democratic side. But before last week’s Republican National Convention fades from view, let me focus instead on a development on the G.O.P. side that may, given everything else that has been happening, have flown under the radar: MAGA rhetoric on immigration, which was already ugly, has become even uglier. Until now, most of the anti-immigration sloganeering coming from Donald Trump and his campaign has involved [false claims](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/opinion/biden-trump-debate-crime.html) that we’re experiencing a migrant crime wave. Increasingly, however, Trump and his associates have started making the case that immigrants are stealing American jobs — specifically, the accusation that immigrants are inflicting terrible damage on the livelihoods of Black workers. Of course, the idea that immigrants are taking jobs away from native-born Americans, including native-born Black Americans, isn’t new. It has, in particular, been an obsession for JD Vance, complete with [misleading statistical analysis](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/08/vance-immigration-job-numbers/), so Trump’s choice of Vance as his running mate in itself signals a new focus on the supposed economic harm inflicted by immigrants. So, too, did Trump’s acceptance speech on Thursday, which contained a number of assertions about the economics of immigration, among them, the notion that of jobs created under President Biden, “[107 percent](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/19/us/politics/trump-rnc-speech-transcript.html) of those jobs are taken by illegal aliens” — a weirdly specific number considering that it’s clearly false, because native-born employment has [risen by millions](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgraph.png?g=1qtjR) of jobs since Biden took office. What seems relatively new, however, is the attempt to pit immigrants against Black Americans. True, Trump prefigured this line of attack during his June debate with Biden, when he declared that immigrants are “[taking Black jobs](https://thehill.com/homenews/race-politics/4745183-black-americans-black-jobs-trump-biden-presidential-debate-cnn-atlanta-2024/),” leading some to mockingly question which jobs, exactly, count as “Black.” Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F22%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-immigration-black-voters.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F22%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-immigration-black-voters.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F22%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-immigration-black-voters.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F07%2F22%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-immigration-black-voters.html).

Does it even matter that the Haitian immigrants who have flocked to Springfield, [Ohio](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ohio), are in the country legally? Does it matter that Springfield, once a depressed post-industrial Rust belt town like so many others, has been [economically revitalized](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/neo-nazis-springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants) by their arrival? Does it matter that the immigrants from Haiti fled violence and economic deprivation in their own country that are the outcome of American policy? Does it matter that none of the bizarre lies that have been peddled about them by [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump), [JD Vance](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/jd-vance) and others on the right, telling lurid tales of the migrants [capturing and killing local pets](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/09/republicans-haitian-migrants-pets-wildlife-ohio), are true? But even though the stories are made up, the threats now facing Springfield’s population of roughly 80,000 souls are very real. After last week’s presidential debate, when [Trump railed](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/10/trump-springfield-pets-false-claims) about how Haitians in Springfield were “eating the dogs, eating the cats … they’re eating the pets of the people that live there”, life has been transformed in Springfield. Ordinary life has yielded to a barrage of media attention, nationally broadcast lies and threats. Two elementary schools in Springfield had to be evacuated because of threats of violence. Think about that: someone contacted Springfield authorities and made threats against grade-school children that were credible enough that the [buildings had to be evacuated](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/bomb-threats-springfield-schools-highway-patrol) for the sake of safety. Classes at Wittenberg University in Springfield had to be held [online](https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/16/us/springfield-ohio-closures-threats/index.html) because multiple threats of violence targeting Haitian students and staff there – including a bomb threat and a mass shooting threat – were deemed credible. Two hospitals in the town, Kettering Health Springfield and Mercy Health, had to go into [lockdown after receiving threats](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/more-bomb-threats-hit-springfield-ohio-after-trump-elevates-false-claims-about-haitians). [Government buildings](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/12/springfield-ohio-city-hall-bomb-threat) in the city also had to be closed. Haitian immigrants in Springfield [told](https://haitiantimes.com/2024/09/11/haitian-immigrants-in-ohio-under-racist-attacks/) news outlets that they were afraid to leave their homes. There were reports of broken windows and acid thrown on cars. There is a word for this kind of large-scale, organized violence against a local ethnic enclave. That word is pogrom. There was a time, earlier in Trump’s political career, when pundits liked to issue chin-scratching missives about the mutability of truth: about how Trump could spin outright fabrications into vehicles for white or male grievance, and about how shockingly little it mattered when his stories were revealed to be lies. Now, the thoroughly Trumpified Republican party has all but dispensed with the pretext of honesty, instead embracing an avowed sense that the factual truth is actually irrelevant. > This blood libel against a small migrant community in the midwest has turned attention back to Trump. That may be all he really wants In an interview with CNN, Vance, who was instrumental in amplifying the lies about Springfield’s Haitian population, seemed to concede that he knew the stories of immigrants eating pets were false. “[If I have to create stories](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/15/jd-vance-lies-haitian-immigrants) so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” the vice-presidential candidate said. The suffering of the people of Springfield, apparently, is not his concern. The episode is typical of Trump’s cynical cycle, one which the rightwing media and his many Republican imitators have almost perfected over the course of the past decade: an outrageous lie is told that provides cover for a racist resentment among Trump’s supporters – and, more importantly, gins up attention for Trump himself. Because the lie is fabricated and because it has no basis in reality, it can exist entirely at the level of fantasy and projection: lurid tales of pet-eating are not true, but because they can’t be proven or disproven, they can propel days’ worth of imaginings, condemnations, hoaxes and frantic factchecking by the media class. That this particular lie evokes longstanding racist imaginations of Black people as brutal and bestial – something more akin to coyotes than to hardworking small-town families – it reaffirms Trump’s particular appeal to the white Republican id. Trump, meanwhile, uses this vulgarity to monopolize the news cycle. Real people pay the price somewhere off camera, while he [repeats his libels](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/trump-repeats-lies-haitian-immigrants) into a microphone. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/18/springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants#EmailSignup-skip-link-9) Sign up to The Stakes — US Election Edition The Guardian guides you through the chaos of a hugely consequential presidential election **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion Those microphones may be part of the point. One of the great lessons of the past month, as [Kamala Harris](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/kamala-harris) ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket and took on a more mocking and dismissive [approach](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/29/kamala-harris-campaign-high-road) to Trump and his brand of politics, is that Trump’s entertainment value is a bit like Samson’s hair. When Trump is not getting attention – be it negative, outraged, adulatory or prurient – he is desperate, useless, like a fish out of water. The debate last week was a disaster for Trump: he was belittled, humiliated, made to seem peevish, petty, pathetic and incompetent by the woman who now [leads him in most polls.](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/aug/23/presidential-polls-kamala-harris-donald-trump-election) But this blood libel against a small migrant community in the midwest has turned the attention back to him. That may be all he really wants. Trump’s theory of politics, after all, has always been wildly consistent: he only feels like he’s winning when everyone is looking his way. * Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

The Haitian Bridge Alliance, a non-profit organization that “provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal and social services”, [filed criminal charges](https://www.chandralaw.com/files/assets/2024-09-24-bench-memo-and-guerline-jozef-of-haitian-bridge-alliance-affidavit-re-trump-vance-and-springfield.pdf) against Donald Trump and JD Vance over their inflammatory, racist remarks about Haitian immigrants. The rhetoric has led to threats of violence in Springfield, Ohio, including more than 30 bomb threats, forced evacuations of schools and government buildings and [violence against Haitians in the city](https://haitiantimes.com/2024/09/11/haitian-immigrants-in-ohio-under-racist-attacks/). The filing comes after both the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate made false statements about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, alleging that they were stealing and eating their neighbors’ pets. The charges include disrupting public services, making false alarms, two counts of telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing, and complicity. Ohio law allows the public to file criminal charges in the same way a prosecutor would. In this case, the Haitian Bridge Alliance is asking the Clark county municipal court to affirm that there is probable cause that Trump and Vance committed the crimes, and to issue arrest warrants for them both. “Trump and Vance have knowingly spread a false and dangerous narrative by claiming that Springfield, Ohio’s Haitian community is criminally killing and eating neighbors’ dogs and cats, and killing and eating geese,” the affidavit reads. “They accused Springfield’s Haitians of bearing deadly disease. They repeated such lies during the presidential debate, at campaign rallies, during interviews on national television, and on social media.” Trump continued perpetuating the statements even after they had been [confirmed to be false](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-pushes-false-claim-haitian-migrants-stealing-eating/story?id=113570407), while Vance recently remarked that he was [willing to “create stories”](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/15/jd-vance-lies-haitian-immigrants) for political gain. They continued to repeat what the filing calls an “orchestrated … campaign of lies” that “spread a false narrative that Haitians in Springfield are a danger”. “Many public institutions have been forced to evacuate, and vital local resources were diverted to investigate the barrage of threats to the community,” the filing reads. Despite the public nature of Trump and Vance’s claims, local prosecutors have failed to take any action. But because the criminal charges were filed by citizens, a prosecuting attorney will be obligated to make a public decision. Trump and Vance, the US senator from Ohio, have indicated that they may travel to Springfield. The filing asks the court to make a decision prior to their arrival. “This should be done before Trump fulfills his threat to visit Springfield – despite Mayor Rob Rue’s request that he not do so – so that he may be arrested upon arrival for his criminal acts,” the affidavit reads.

Donald Trump spoke on Saturday in the battleground state of Wisconsin, escalating his anti-immigrant rhetoric and taking his personal insults against [Kamala Harris](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/kamala-harris) up a notch. Trump’s speech in the small community of Prairie du Chien, where a Venezuelan in the US illegally was detained in September for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and attacking her daughter, was unusually devoted almost entirely to undocumented immigrants. He wrongfully claimed that immigrants in the US are violent criminals, referring to them as “stone-cold killers”, “monsters” and “vile animals”. The Republican presidential candidate was flanked by posters of immigrants in the US illegally who have been arrested for murder and other violent crimes, and banners saying “End Migrant Crime” and “Deport Illegals Now”. Trump is locked in a close race with Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate and vice-president, before the 5 November election. Immigration at the southern border are one of the top issues for voters, according to opinion polls. Trump attacked Harris, who on Friday visited the US-Mexico border for the first time in her 2024 presidential campaign, calling her “mentally impaired” and “mentally disabled”. The former president blamed Harris and Joe Biden for allowing undocumented immigrants into the US, accusing some immigrants of wanting to “rape, pillage, thieve, plunder and kill the people of the United States of America”. At one point Trump admitted: “This is a dark speech.” “There’s no greater act of disloyalty than to extinguish the sovereignty of your own nation right through your border, no matter what lies she tells,” he said. “Kamala Harris can never be forgiven for her erasing our border, and she must never be allowed to become president of the United States and [Wisconsin](https://www.theguardian.com/world/wisconsin),” he added. A video intending to attack Kamala Harris was shown in the middle of Trump’s remarks. It was a compilation of Harris’s comments about immigration policy. “She is a disaster, and she’s not going to ever do anything for the border,” he said after the video. “She’s incompetent and a bad person.” “She’s a Marxist,” he added. JD Vance continued the attacks on Harris in a speech in Newton, Pennsylvania, taking the former president’s lead and making sure to continue the anti-immigrant claims. “The problem with Kamala Harris is that she’s got no substance,” Trump’s running mate said. “The problem with Kamala Harris is that she’s got no plan. And the problem with Kamala Harris is that she has been the vice-president for three-and-a-half years and has failed this country.” Vance claimed without proof that Harris played a role in worsening the economy by exacerbating inflation, then went on to link the country’s economic woes to immigration, blaming Harris for what he describes as an “invasion” amid a lack of border control. Vance claimed that the presence of immigrants in the US is contributing to rising housing costs. Some 7 million immigrants have been arrested crossing the US-Mexico border illegally during Biden’s administration, according to government data, a record high number that has fueled criticism of Harris and Biden from Trump and fellow Republicans. In her visit to the border on Friday, Harris outlined her plans to fix “our broken immigration system” while accusing Trump of “fanning the flames of fear and division” over the impact of immigrants on American life. Harris also called for tighter asylum restrictions and vowed to make a “top priority” of stopping fentanyl from entering the US. Before wrapping up his speech, Trump called to the stage the mother of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland mother of five who was killed last year. After Rachel’s death, a native of El Salvador was arrested. Trump has used this case to support his remarks against immigrants from Central America living in the US. Studies generally find there is no evidence immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans and critics say Trump’s rhetoric reinforces racist tropes. Trump’s opponents accuse him of cynically exploiting grieving families to fuel his narrative that foreign-born, often Hispanic, arrivals are part of an invading army. But some of the families of the victims have welcomed Trump’s focus on the issue of violent crime and the death toll of teenagers caused by the opioid drug fentanyl, much of which crosses into the US over the southern border.

[Tim Walz](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/tim-walz) and [JD Vance](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/jd-vance) faced each other for the first and only vice-presidential debate of this election cycle – and clashed on issues including abortion, childcare, the cost of living and Trump’s 2020 election claims. Here are the facts on some of the false or misleading claims offered during Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate. Vance attacked Harris’s record on the border. “The only thing that she did when she became the vice-president, when she became the appointed border tsar, was to undo [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) executive actions that opened the border,” he said. This contains inaccuracies. First, Harris was never a “border tsar” – that’s a term invented by her critics. She had a role in the Biden administration to look into addressing the root causes of migration to the US, including safety and economic turmoil in Central American countries. Second, she did not “undo [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) executive actions”. Presidents sign executive orders, and she was not president. [Joe Biden](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/joebiden) did reverse some Trump executive orders on the border. He initially kept in place Trump-era restrictions known as [Title 42](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/11/what-is-title-42-explainer-immigration), which allowed the US to turn away immigrants at the border on the grounds of preventing the spread of Covid-19, before eventually lifting them. **Vance on Trump’s role on January 6** -------------------------------------- Vance defended Trump’s role on the day of the insurrection at the US Capitol. The Ohio senator picked out one line of his running mate’s speech on [6 January 2021](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/us-capitol-breach) – prior to the insurrection. According to Vance, Trump “said on January 6 the protesters ought to protest peacefully”. But Trump also repeatedly encouraged supporters to “fight”. “We fight like hell. And if you don’t [fight like hell](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/02/trump-capitol-riot-powder-keg-impeachment-prosecutors), you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump said in 2021. **Vance on Trump and the Affordable Care Act** ---------------------------------------------- Vance claimed that [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) bolstered or salvaged the Affordable Care Act. That’s not true. The former president cut millions in funding for helping people enroll in healthcare, repeatedly supported efforts in Congress to repeal the law and asked the [supreme court](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/us-supreme-court) to overturn the law. **Vance on immigrants and housing prices** ------------------------------------------ Vance twice implicated immigrants in driving up housing prices, though when pressed, agreed that immigration was not the “only” contributor. A nonpartisan analysis found that [Trump’s vow of mass deportation](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/03/trump-mass-deportations-detention-camps-military-migrants) would drive up prices in several sectors and affect the availability of labor. The Peterson Institute for International Economics projects that the policy would be “a major shock to the US economy, with substantial disruption across all sectors, especially agriculture, mining, and manufacturing”. **Vance on Trump’s position on abortion** ----------------------------------------- Vance said that Donald Trump has supported states making their own abortion laws. Vance claimed that Trump has said that “the proper way to handle this … is to let voters make these decisions, let the individual states make their abortion policy”. That’s not quite right. Donald Trump [declined to say](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/11/trump-harris-presidential-debate) whether he would sign a national abortion ban during the last debate. **Walz on Project 2025’s ambitions** ------------------------------------ The Minnesota governor claimed that Project 2025, the ambitious blueprint from the Heritage Foundation to remake the federal government under a second Trump term, would require people to register their pregnancies. “Their Project 2025 is going to have a registry of pregnancies,” Walz said. That claim is false. Project 2025 calls for a number of [restrictive policies on abortion](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/05/project-2025-abortion), including reversing FDA approval of abortion pills, rolling back privacy protections for abortion patients and increasing surveillance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over abortion, but it does not call for all pregnant people to register. The CDC already collects information about abortion from most of the country, but its reports are incomplete, as some states do not supply the data. Project 2025 suggests that the CDC should go so far as to cut funds from a state if it does not tell the CDC “exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method”. **Vance on immigrants in Springfield, Ohio** -------------------------------------------- Referring to [Springfield, Ohio](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/30/springfield-ohio-republicans-haitian-immigrants-lies) – where a number of Haitian immigrants have recently settled – Vance referred to immigrants with legal status as “illegal”. “You’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you’ve got housing that’s totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans,” he said. The [Haitian immigrants in Springfield](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/neo-nazis-springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants), as CBS moderator Margaret Brennan noted, have legal status. Their arrival, local residents and leaders have said, has helped revive the town, which has lost a quarter of its population since the 1960s. **Vance on the climate crisis** **and manufacturing** ----------------------------------------------------- The Ohio senator has repeatedly expressed skepticism about the reality that carbon emissions have caused global heating. Tonight, he was a bit subtle: “One of the things that I’ve noticed some of our Democratic friends talking a lot about is a concern about carbon emissions, this idea that carbon emissions drives all the climate change … let’s just say that’s true, just for the sake of argument.” Despite Vance’s skepticism, it is indeed true. [One hundred percent](https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-scientists-think-100-of-global-warming-is-due-to-humans/) of global heating since 1950 is due to human activity such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Vance also took viewers on a circuitous journey to suggest that if [Harris](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/kamala-harris) really cared about [the climate crisis](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-crisis), she would bring back manufacturing jobs to the US. Carbon emissions, whether they are manufactured in the US or overseas, contribute to global heating. The [Inflation Reduction Act](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/11/biden-climate-bill-inflation-reduction-act) of 2022 – the Biden administration’s landmark climate legislation – is greatly aimed at incentivizing domestic manufacturing. **Read more about the 2024 US election:**

NEW YORK -- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday suggested that migrants who are in the U.S. and have committed murder did so because “it’s in their genes.” There are, he added, “a lot of bad genes in our country right now.” It’s the latest example of Trump alleging that immigrants are changing the hereditary makeup of the U.S. Last year, he evoked language [once used by Adolf Hitler](https://apnews.com/article/trump-hitler-poison-blood-history-f8c3ff512edd120252596a4743324352) to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country." Trump made the comments Monday in a radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt. He was criticizing his Democratic opponent for the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris, when he pivoted to immigration, citing [statistics](https://apnews.com/article/immigration-crime-border-detention-biden-trump-fc19e795599471c0ab21d76050a71a74) that the Department of Homeland Security says include cases from his administration. “How about allowing people to come through an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers? Many of them murdered far more than one person," Trump said. “And they’re now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer — I believe this: it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now. Then you had 425,000 people come into our country that shouldn’t be here that are criminals.” Trump's campaign said his comments regarding genes were about murderers. “He was clearly referring to murderers, not migrants. It’s pretty disgusting the media is always so quick to defend murderers, rapists, and illegal criminals if it means writing a bad headline about President Trump,” Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said in a statement. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [released immigration enforcement data to](https://homeland.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/24-01143-ICEs-Signed-Response-to-Representative-Tony-Gonzales.pdf) Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales last month about the people under its supervision, including those not in ICE custody. That included 13,099 people who were found guilty of homicide and 425,431 people who are convicted criminals. But those numbers span decades, including during Trump’s administration. And those who are not in ICE custody may be detained by state or local law enforcement agencies, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. The Harris campaign declined to comment. Asked during her briefing with reporters on Monday about Trump’s “bad genes” comment, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “That type of language, it’s hateful, it’s disgusting, it’s inappropriate, it has no place in our country.” The Biden administration [has stiffened asylum restrictions for migrants](https://apnews.com/article/biden-asylum-migration-immigration-mexico-border-1241e365e68f8b6f7031c6ba4279bfac), and Harris, seeking to address a vulnerability as she campaigns, [has worked to project a tougher stance](https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-donald-trump-border-arizona-4a87c6f3b2df1736aa226bc620f51b89) on immigration. The former president and Republican nominee has made illegal immigration a central part of his 2024 campaign, vowing to stage the largest deportation operation in U.S. history if elected. He has a long history of comments maligning immigrants, including referring to them as “animals" and “killers," and saying that they spread diseases. Last month, during his debate with Harris, Trump [falsely claimed](https://apnews.com/article/haitian-immigrants-vance-trump-ohio-6e4a47c52b23ae2c802d216369512ca5) Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets. As president, he questioned why the U.S. [was accepting immigrants](https://apnews.com/article/immigration-north-america-donald-trump-ap-top-news-international-news-fdda2ff0b877416c8ae1c1a77a3cc425) from Haiti and Africa rather than Norway and [told](https://apnews.com/article/728ada1e918a482c9e9b1f3e24937caa) four congresswomen, all people of color and three of whom were born in the U.S., to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” \_\_\_ Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

Late-night hosts looked back at [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump)’s most recent, unhinged rallies and at the damage that some of his more harmful comments have had. **Jimmy Kimmel** ---------------- On [Jimmy Kimmel](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/jimmy-kimmel) Live!, the host said that it “feels like the longest election campaign of all time” with just a few weeks left. He joked that we are now in the “somebody please put Trump in a home stretch”. Kimmel said that at this stage “it’s hard to believe that anybody is going along with” the former president given his recent behaviour. Trump [recently visited Aurora, Colorado](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/11/trump-aurora-colorado-migrant-crackdown), a city he has demonised by claiming that Venezuelan immigrants have turned it into a war zone. He visited to “double down on his thoroughly debunked claims”. Kimmel said that his latest round of fearmongering over immigrants should cause an update of his slogan to “make America Germany in the 1930s again”. Trump has referred to immigrants as criminals and rapists and as Kimmel said, “that’s a man who knows rapists”. He has also been calling his opponent [Kamala Harris](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/kamala-harris) a range of vile things, including [mentally disabled](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/29/trump-republicans-mentally-disabled-comments-harris) and, according to a New York Times report, retarded. “When they go low, they go really low,” he said. In response to Trump being called a fascist, Kimmel added: “When is he gonna grow that little moustache already? There’s only three weeks left.” Trump has recently doubled his support among Black men which led to him rambling at rallies about how much he loves Black men, “as long as they don’t try and live in one of my buildings”, added Kimmel. **Stephen Colbert** ------------------- On The Late Show, [Stephen Colbert](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/stephen-colbert) started by talking about the [medical report](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/12/kamala-harris-to-release-health-report-saying-she-is-fit-for-presidency-aide) that showed Harris to be in excellent health. “It’s great that just the words excellent health kinda feel like a dig at Donald Trump,” he joked. Trump has refused to undergo the same exam, which led Harris to claim at a recent rally that the reason was that he was “too weak and unstable to lead America”. Colbert replied “yeah probably” and then added: “Or hear me out, it’s possible they just can’t find a doctor who is willing to do the exam.” At 78, Trump is the oldest man ever nominated by a major party. This past weekend saw Trump decide to [criticise Detroit](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/10/trump-calls-detroit-michigan-mess) while speaking to an audience in Detroit. “It’s a pretty weird strategy to dunk on your host’s city,” he said. Colbert said that Trump had been telling “a lot of lies about a lot of things” including the conspiracy theories about Venezuelan immigrants in Aurora. He said that Trump went to Aurora “so he could threaten immigrants to their face”. He also criticised him for “spreading vicious lies about Fema” during the two recent hurricanes and called his input “dumb, unhelpful and dangerous”.

Donald Trump is so dependent on racial and ethnic antagonism that without it, he would be a marginal figure, relegated to the sidelines. Trump’s constant demonization of Black people and immigrants has inured the public to the fact that he is the first — or certainly the most explicit — modern president and party nominee to transparently generate, not to mention exacerbate, fear and white animosity toward people of color. Despite his appeal to a small if potentially crucial segment of Black and Hispanic men, racial bigotry has been central to Trump’s appeal from his initial quest, in 2015 and 2016, to take over the Republican Party. In the closing days of the 2024 election, he continues to foment race hatred and to rely on it ever more intently. The 2018 book “[Identity Crisis](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691196435/identity-crisis?srsltid=AfmBOoonX7nMSNkuEb4v34Dz4_Jb-2zTPpGS1RY4HXl_0e_7lzepRUBO): The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America,” by the political scientists [John Sides](https://johnsides.org/), [Michael Tesler](https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/mtesler/) and [Lynn Vavreck](https://polisci.ucla.edu/person/lynn-vavreck/), documented the success of Trump’s strategy. “Trump was distinctive in how he tapped into white grievance,” they wrote. “Trump’s primary campaign became a vehicle for a different kind of identity politics” — one oriented toward capitalizing on the feeling of many white people that they were being “pushed aside in an increasingly diverse America.” Trump crushed his primary opponents by magnifying and mobilizing the racial resentment and bitter discontent endemic in the Republican electorate. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F16%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-racism-immigrants.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F16%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-racism-immigrants.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F16%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-racism-immigrants.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F16%2Fopinion%2Ftrump-racism-immigrants.html).

Donald Trump – who has built his presidential campaign on the idea that immigrants are “destroying” the US and promoting mass deportation – faced blunt, tough questions from undecided Hispanic voters on Tuesday. At a town hall hosted by Univision, the largest US Spanish-language network, several dozen Latino voters from across the country questioned the former president about immigration, as well as the economy, abortion and other key issues. The Republican presidential candidate – who has been increasingly trying to court Latino voters – struggled to field specific questions about policy, even as he doubled down on misinformation about immigration. [ Where do Harris and Trump stand on the key election issues? ](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/14/election-harris-trump-issues-policies) [Polls have indicated that Trump is making inroads](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/01/trump-biden-latino-voters-poll) with Hispanic voters, who – like multiple other demographic groups – say they favour the former president on economic issues. [Latino voters are an increasingly important voting bloc](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/15/kamala-harris-latino-voters) in several swing states. At the town hall, in front of 100 voters, Trump did not mention his plans to order the largest mass deportation in US history. He also dodged or dismissed tough questions about his rhetoric and policies concerning immigrants. When a voter, who mentioned he was a registered Republican, asked why Trump keeps repeating the debunked myth that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, Trump doubled down. “I was just saying what was reported,” Trump said – adding that migrants were “eating other things too, that they’re not supposed to”. Guadalupe Ramirez, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, asked Trump for more details about his proposals and asked why he had urged legislators to vote against a bipartisan immigration reform bill. Trump provided no details, but instead criticised Democratic leaders, including the governor of Illinois, alleging that migrants were driving up crime, and boasted that he had the “strongest border”. When Jorge Velázquez, a California farmworker, asked bluntly who would do the backbreaking labor of harvesting America’s fruit if Trump were to deport the many undocumented workers who currently do the job, the former president dodged. He accused newer immigrants of stealing jobs from Hispanic people in the US, and characterised migrants – as he often does – as “hundreds of thousands of people that are murderers, drug dealers and terrorists”. “We have to have people that are great people come into our country,” he said. “I want them in even more than you do.” But he never directly addressed deportations. During her town hall with Univision, [Kamala Harris](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/16/kamala-harris-fox-news-interview) highlighted her policies to address inflation and protect abortion rights. [She also warned](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/17/kamala-harris-fox-news-interview-key-takeaways) that her opponent was sowing misinformation and division. “I know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us, and part of what pains me is the approach that frankly Donald Trump and some others have taken, which is to suggest that it’s us versus them … and having Americans point fingers at each other, using language that’s belittling people,” she said. “I don’t think that’s healthy for our nation, and I don’t admire that.”

A new poll has revealed that more than one-third of Americans agree with [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump)’s warning that undocumented immigrants in the US are “poisoning the blood” of America. A significant 34% of the respondents to the [poll](https://x.com/BrookingsGov/status/1846559080199966723), conducted by the Brookings Institution and Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), agreed with the statement previously made on the election campaign trail by the former US president and Republican party nominee for the White House, Donald Trump. “One-third of Americans (34%) say that immigrants entering the country illegally today are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’, including six in 10 Republicans (61%), 30% of independents, and only 13% of Democrats,” a summary of the annual [poll](https://www.prri.org/research/challenges-to-democracy-the-2024-election-in-focus-findings-from-the-2024-american-values-survey/) stated, which surveyed more than 5,000 individuals from 16 August to 4 September. “This is a truly alarming situation to find this kind of rhetoric, find this kind of support from one of our two major political parties,” said Robert Jones, president and founder of the PRRI, during a [presentation](https://www.brookings.edu/events/democracy-at-a-crossroads/) of the poll’s findings. “That language is straight out of Mein Kampf. This kind of poisoning the blood, it’s Nazi rhetoric.” Trump told supporters during a rally in New Hampshire in December 2023 that immigrants coming into the US are [“poisoning the blood of our country”](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/16/trump-immigrants-new-hampshire-rally). “They let – I think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country. When they do that, we got a lot of work to do. They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump told the crowd. “That’s what they’ve done. They poison mental institutions and prisons all over the world, not just in South America, not just to three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. They’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia, all over the world.” He repeated the phrase in a social media post after the rally and had previously used it in a September 2023 [interview](https://meidasnews.com/:section/trump-migrants-poisoning-the-blood-of-our-country). “Blood poisoning” was a term used by Adolf Hitler in his Mein Kampf manifesto. Trump’s comments incited a strong rebuke from the Biden campaign at the time. [ Where do Harris and Trump stand on the key election issues? ](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/14/election-harris-trump-issues-policies) The former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie responded to Trump’s comments by stating: [“He’s disgusting.”](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/17/trump-denounced-anti-immigrant-comment) The television presenter Geraldo Rivera recently cited the comments made by Trump in an [interview](https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4934025-geraldo-rivera-trump-latino-voters/) with NewsNation, explaining why he would not vote for the former president. “I don’t know how any Latino person of any self-esteem, any self-respect, would be in favor of the ranting, the poisoning the blood of the country.” The poll also found nearly one in four Trump supporters, 23%, believe if he loses the election that he should declare the results invalid and do whatever it takes to assume office.

If you didn’t know any better, you might think, from recent media coverage, that the problem with Donald Trump’s proposal to round up and expel as many as 20 million immigrants is that it’s not likely to work. The Republican presidential nominee has made the mass deportation pledge central to his case for a second term. On the campaign trail, he diverts every question, no matter what the issue, back to the supposed danger and malignancy of immigrants and the urgency of getting rid of them. The economy? It will be better when there are fewer immigrants competing for jobs, he says. Housing prices? They’ll come down when millions of people are kicked out of the country, he claims. Crime will come down when the immigrants are gone, he says, because murder is “in their genes”. The vision he is offering is profoundly racist: Trump’s proposal, which is not limited to undocumented immigrants, is based on the assumption that nonwhite people are the cause of all of the US’s problems, and that everything that is wrong will be made right as soon as they’re gone. His proposed solution to everything – from crime to housing costs to inflation – is to deploy the armed forces to literally round up our friends, family members and neighbors by the millions, in a vast program of ethnic cleansing. It is a terrifying, horrifically immoral, and contemptibly bigoted proposal; racist, indifferent to humanity, and hostile to the principles of pluralism and equality. If it was enacted, it would be among the worst human rights catastrophes of all time. It would destroy families and lives, tear communities apart, inculcate ethnic hatred and distrust. To be accomplished, it would also practically require tremendous amounts of violence and force. Some of those marked for forced removal would hide, and some of their friends would turn them in. Worksites and immigrant neighborhoods would be raided, as cops flooded in and innocent people scattered. Mothers and fathers would be ripped from the arms of their screaming children. There is no other way to accomplish what Trump wants to accomplish: what he is proposing would require atrocity. For him, this may in fact be the point. At the Republican national convention last summer, the crowd in Milwaukee smiled as they held signs aloft reading “MASS DEPORTATION NOW”. Trump’s appeal has always been this vision of a future that, through violence, can be made to look more like what these people imagine of the United States’ past – namely, one with many fewer people of color in it. But what is strange about the coverage of Trump’s mass deportation plan is how little its moral perversity has factored into coverage, either by the media or in the attacks lobbed at it by Democrats. CBS and NBC, for their part, seem to have determined that Trump’s pivot to calling for a gigantic scale ethnic cleansing operation is not in itself newsworthy. Instead, they have run stories pointing out that the plan would be [expensive and logistically difficult](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-plan-deport-immigrants-cost/), with the federal enforcement agencies requiring an estimated $216bn in funding to deport the US’s roughly 11 million undocumented people over the next four years. (Ice, they note, received a comparatively paltry $9bn last year.) Construction, agriculture, real estate development business leaders, they note, are skeptical at the idea, noting how much of their own labor force is composed of immigrants: they claim, probably correctly, that the move would lead to large increases in [housing](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-immigration-deportations-home-building-costs-rcna172886) and [food costs](https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/mass-deportation-food-trump-immigration-agricultural-workers-us-labor-supply/). And economists worry that the broader impact on the economy could be devastating: one economic thinktank found that deporting 1.3 million immigrants would reduce jobs for native-born workers, increasing unemployment by 0.8%. For their part, the Harris campaign has largely taken this line on the issue, preferring to focus on Trump’s mass deportation plan not as a moral horror but as an irresponsible economic move. This is the line taken by Harris campaign surrogate and billionaire [Mark Cuban](https://x.com/AlexanderTabet/status/1847811790702596198), who has made the threats to the labor force posed by Trump’s plan a key part of his pitch to Harris-skeptical small business owners in swing states. This all may be true enough. It is likely that a mass deportation effort would not only strain the resources of the federal government, but also gut the US private sector labor force, not to mention the disruptions it would cause to productivity when, say, an underslept mother is slow or weepy at her shift because the father of her children was taken from their home by goons. It is likely, too, that the number of jobs created by the mass deportation scheme – the cops and thugs who will be needed to round up the immigrants, the lawyers and judges who will be needed to shove them through the court system, the chefs and guards and drivers who will be needed to feed and transport and monitor them inside the internment camps that such a project will inevitably require – will likely not provide enough jobs to offset the lost tax revenue. But there is something morally depraved about talking about Trump’s plan in these terms. The cost of mass deportation cannot be measured only in whether it will be beneficial or detrimental to the pocketbooks of native-born Americans: doing so supposes both that only those born in the US are worthy of concern, and also that the only thing we have to lose is money. What is being proposed is a vast cruelty, a human tragedy, and a costly national investment in racism. That we are speaking of this proposal in primarily economic terms, rather than moral ones, suggests that the cost to the US has already been quite high. * Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

President-elect Donald J. Trump has vowed a crackdown on immigration like never before. While his hard-line rhetoric about illegal immigration harks back to his first campaign, one of the president-elect’s targets this time is a decades-old program providing temporary legal status to about one million immigrants from dangerous and deeply troubled countries such as Haiti and Venezuela. Known as Temporary Protected Status, the program was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush to help people already in the United States who cannot return safely and immediately to their country because of a natural disaster or an armed conflict. But for some immigrants, the program, which allows them to work legally, has become all but permanent, a reflection of how troubled many corners of the world are and how little Congress has done to adapt the U.S. immigration system to the realities of global migration in the 21st century. About 200,000 people with T.P.S. are from Haiti, a long-troubled island nation where the [assassination of the president in 2021](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/world/americas/haiti-president-assassinated-killed.html) led to the collapse of the government and the killings of [thousands of people by gangs](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/world/americas/haiti-gangs-airlines-doctors-without-borders.html) that now control much of the country. Haitians have emerged as the focus of Mr. Trump’s threats to effectively end the program after he and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, [spread false rumors](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/us/politics/trump-vance-haitians-ohio.html) that Haitians who have settled in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating pets. Mr. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, spread false rumors that Haitians who have settled in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating pets.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times Thousands of Haitians have settled in the city, and the majority of them have lawful status, often through the program. That has made them attractive to local industries in need of workers. But the influx has strained resources and caused friction among some residents, and Mr. Trump seized on those tensions, vilifying the Haitians who have made Springfield home and threatening to effectively end the program for them and hundreds of thousands of other immigrants. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F15%2Fus%2Ftrump-immigrants-temporary-protected-status.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F15%2Fus%2Ftrump-immigrants-temporary-protected-status.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F15%2Fus%2Ftrump-immigrants-temporary-protected-status.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F15%2Fus%2Ftrump-immigrants-temporary-protected-status.html).

When José Pérez Gómez came from Mexico more than 25 years ago, he scraped together money by selling handmade furniture on the streets of Fresno, Calif. Eventually, he turned that hustle into a full-fledged brick-and-mortar business, which allowed him to raise a family and send two daughters to college. And when Mr. Pérez Gómez, 49, became eligible to participate in his first presidential election four years ago, he voted for Joseph R. Biden Jr. because he was turned off by Donald J. Trump’s negative rhetoric about Latinos and other people of color. But this time, he said, he voted for Mr. Trump. Democrats had assumed that Mr. Trump’s threat of mass deportations and harsh words toward migrants would sour Latino voters across the country, especially those with family or friends who were undocumented. But for Mr. Pérez Gómez, personal economic struggles took precedence. Furthermore, he said, many immigrants in California’s Central Valley actually agreed with Mr. Trump that Democrats had allowed too many people to cross the border with the lure of asylum protections. Friends and relatives had spent decades toiling in the fields and paying taxes with no legal pathway. “Suddenly in one year, millions of people come in with all the rights without having contributed anything to the country,” Mr. Pérez Gómez said. “So a lot of people feel defrauded.” José Pérez Gómez, a furniture store owner, supported President Biden four years ago, but voted for Mr. Trump this election. Credit...Mark Abramson for The New York Times Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F25%2Fus%2Flatino-immigrants-trump-fresno-california.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F25%2Fus%2Flatino-immigrants-trump-fresno-california.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F25%2Fus%2Flatino-immigrants-trump-fresno-california.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F25%2Fus%2Flatino-immigrants-trump-fresno-california.html).

On the campaign trail, president-elect Donald Trump promoted a rallying cry demanding mass deportations of as many [as 20 million people](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/01/politics/trump-immigration-what-matters/index.html) – a hyper-inflated statistic that exceeds the estimated total of undocumented population in the US by millions, suggesting he might go so far as to round up immigrants [in the country who have legal protections,](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/22/us/politics/vance-trump-legal-immigrants.html) too. But despite the US already having [the largest](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/24/detained-us-largest-immigrant-detention-trump) immigration detention system worldwide, mass deportations on that scale would require an enforcement regime that doesn’t yet exist. Case in point: in Trump’s first term, authorities removed [about 1.5 million people](https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/politics/deportations-trump-presidency-what-matters/index.html) over four years, leveling a devastating toll on the [families involved](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/us/arrestees-trump-workplace-immigration-raid-mississippi.html) but falling far short of the mass repatriations Trump [had aspired to](https://www.factcheck.org/2024/11/trumps-agenda-deportation/) back then. To multiply that number exponentially this time around would require resources, personnel and funding that are [absent](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/opinion/trump-mass-deportation-immigration.html) from the current immigration system. Alternatively, taking a more incremental approach to deport even a million people a year would cost taxpayers somewhere around [$88bn annually](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/mass-deportation) – or nearly $1tn over more than a decade. So, as stump speeches evolve into more concrete plans during the presidential transition, Trump and his team have coalesced around several demographics to focus on detaining and [deporting first](https://www.scrippsnews.com/scripps-news-investigates/trumps-mass-deportation-plan-targets-specific-groups-of-immigrants) (although if [your grandmother gets swept up as collateral damage](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79zxjj0j55o.amp), Trump’s incoming border czar doesn’t seem to mind). One of their highest stated priority demographics: “criminal” immigrants. It’s true that some immigrants commit crimes, and that a handful of [particularly heinous attacks](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/laken-riley-murder-trial-jose-ibarra-verdict/) in recent [memory](https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/us/jocelyn-nungaray-killing-houston/index.html) have made [that front-of-mind](https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/mother-of-murdered-maryland-mom-rachel-morin-to-testify-on-capitol-hill-on-immigration-policies/). But Trump’s fixation on what he’s labeled “[migrant crime](https://time.com/6972022/donald-trump-transcript-2024-election/)” supposedly overtaking the nation is not only [untrue](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/trump-misleads-about-crime-and-public-safety-again) but it belies the fact that, historically, immigrants [commit offenses](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/immigrants-and-crime) at lower rates than native-born Americans. For immigrants who have yet to earn US citizenship, there’s a clear and at times existential incentive to remain on the right side of the law: deportation could mean returning to a country where their lives or livelihoods might be at risk. Yet after Trump and his surrogates have so often used “criminals” as the example of their immigration enforcement priorities – especially when persuading [non-base audiences](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/18/there-arent-20-million-people-deport-trump-will-certainly-try/), their argument has proved persuasive [to many](https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-11-27/most-americans-support-mass-deportation-after-donald-trumps-win.html), and even to a [subset of immigrants](https://www.npr.org/2024/10/21/nx-s1-5068689/trump-calls-venezuelan-migrants-criminals-some-venezuelans-agree-others-fight-back). Some want to believe that the vast majority of non-citizens who have worked hard, paid taxes and otherwise led upstanding lives in the US [have little to fear](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79zxjj0j55o.amp). That the people who will be deported aren’t friends, neighbors, family members, co-workers or even themselves, but dangerous others who somehow “deserve” it. > Trump has already unleashed a world of panic and pain against any immigrant – legal or undocumented – who he decides doesn’t belong in his America Instead, as soon as day one of Trump’s second term, the administration [is expected](https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/16/politics/donald-trump-immigration-plans/index.html) to reverse current policy that prioritizes people who pose threats to national security, border security and public safety for [immigration enforcement](https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10578). That could potentially force officials to revert to the chaotic situation under Trump’s first term, [when undocumented immigrants](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigration-enforcement-priorities-under-trump-administration) were broadly targeted and the country’s finite law enforcement resources were diverted away from real risks. Then, if Trump wants to make good on his campaign promise quickly, his earliest mass deportations may at least in part involve those most easy to locate – such as immigrants already in federal detention facilities, about [60% of whom](https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/quickfacts/) have no criminal record (while many more detainees only have minor infractions). Other low-hanging fruit to pick up, detain and deport include people who report to their [immigration check-ins](https://portal.ice.gov/immigration-guide/check-ins), change their home addresses in government databases when they move and go into work before getting caught up [in a raid](https://www.dailyjournal.com/articles/381953-attorneys-warn-clients-to-prepare-for-immigration-raids) – in short, people playing by the rules and trying to make a living, some of whom may have been in the US for decades and buoy up the economy. Even the “criminals” Trump has in mind for his mass deportations may not be who most Americans are envisioning. During the election, Trump [made](https://www.factcheck.org/2024/10/donald-trumps-closing-arguments/) unsubstantiated and bizarre remarks about the US being a “dumping ground for the whole world to put their criminals into”. He claimed with no evidence that the newcomers arriving today, the overwhelming majority of whom are seeking protection or a better life, are actually coming from prisons and mental institutions in their home countries. And, late in the race, his campaign homed in on two cities roughly 1,200 miles apart – Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio – to constantly portray migrants, and in particular migrants of color, as threats to Americans’ safety. For Aurora, Trump used about [a dozen arrests](https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/nx-s1-5147400/donald-trump-aurora-colorado-rally) of Venezuelans allegedly linked to a transnational gang to declare the city a “war zone” and announce an impending [deportation operation](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/oct/11/trump-harris-us-elections-obama-latest-updates?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-67098cfb8f081a18004e501c#block-67098cfb8f081a18004e501c) named after the Colorado suburb. With a fifth of Aurora’s residents foreign-born, mothers are now [crying every day](https://sentinelcolorado.com/metro/aurora-immigrants-gird-for-deportations-amid-trumps-threats-and-local-promises/) after they drop off their kids at school, unsure of what Trump’s return to the presidency will mean for their family. Latinos in the community [are even](https://sentinelcolorado.com/metro/aurora-immigrants-gird-for-deportations-amid-trumps-threats-and-local-promises/) expressing concerns about gathering together in groups, in case of a raid. In Springfield, Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, insistently connected [the city’s large](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/neo-nazis-springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants) Haitian immigrant [population](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/30/springfield-ohio-republicans-haitian-immigrants-lies) with an uptick in the murder rate – [never mind](https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/politics/fact-check-springfield-had-more-murders-under-trump-than-under-biden-harris/index.html) that the local county’s Republican top prosecutor said that in his 21-year career, not a single Haitian had been involved in a murder case there. After Trump and Vance used their national platform to disparage Springfield and its immigrant residents, the city received [bomb threats](https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/us/haitian-immigrants-springfield-threats/index.html) explicitly based in [anti-immigrant hate](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/12/bomb-threat-springfield-ohio-haitian-immigrants/). Now, members of Springfield’s Haitian community – [many of whom](https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/10/5/fact-check-are-haitian-immigrants-in-springfield-in-the-us-illegally) are in the US legally – [are](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/17/haitian-immigrants-springfield-ohio-trump-election) moving elsewhere, afraid that staying put will mean deportation come January. In Aurora, Springfield and the rest of the country, Trump’s “criminals” are whoever he wants them to be. And while he may not have the infrastructure needed to repatriate as many millions of people as he would hope, Trump has already unleashed a world of panic and pain through his looming threat of mass deportations and family separations against any immigrant – legal or undocumented – who he decides doesn’t belong in his America.

President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering deporting some immigrants to countries other than their own. If he tries to do so, it won’t be the first time. Like before, however, he would probably face legal challenges. According to [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/incoming-trump-administration-plans-deport-migrants-countries-rcna182896), Trump is considering sending immigrants whose home countries will not accept US deportees to third countries including Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Panama, and Grenada. Currently, many immigrants from so-called “recalcitrant countries” are simply released into the US since there is nowhere to send them. It’s not immediately clear what legal mechanism Trump intends to rely on to carry out these deportations to third countries. A representative for the Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment. A regulation and a law currently give the executive branch some ability to deport immigrants to third countries; however, the legality of both is an open question. During his first term, Trump previously sought to use executive power to send asylum seekers of various nationalities to Guatemala under what he called an “Asylum Cooperative Agreement.” Under the agreement, migrants who passed through Guatemala before arriving in the US were sent back if they did not first seek protection there. The ACLU [filed a lawsuit](https://www.aclu.org/news/human-rights/asylum-seekers-are-being-abandoned-in-guatemala-in-a-new-policy-officials-call-a-total-disaster) challenging the policy, but that suit was never resolved: The government stopped enforcing the policy during the pandemic and President Joe Biden was elected. The rule remains on the books, however. If Biden does not rescind it before he leaves office, the incoming Trump administration could use it to deport people to the countries under consideration — if it survives in court, and if the US can broker similar agreements with those countries. Alternatively, Trump could try to invoke federal immigration law allowing the removal of immigrants to third countries in certain circumstances, such as when they cannot be returned to their country of origin and the third country is deemed to be safe for them. The ACLU has [challenged Biden’s use of this law](https://www.acludc.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/m.a._v_mayorkas.001.complaint.pdf) to fast-track deportations of Venezuelans to Mexico without their consent. The outcome of the lawsuit may determine the kind of powers Trump may have to carry out his plans. Either way, the Trump administration would have to ensure that immigrants would be sent to a country where they will be safe, as is required under US and international law. “Folks are supposed to be safe from persecution and torture and \[any\] procedure has to include adequate screening for fear of return and a fair process,” [Katrina Eiland](https://www.aclu.org/bio/katrina-eiland), deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said. “To the extent \[the Trump administration is\] incentivized to take shortcuts, that’s a huge problem and something that the ACLU and other allies I’m sure would be prime to sue over.” The US had [designated 13 countries as recalcitrant](https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11025) as of 2020, including Russia, China, Cuba, and Iran. It has not publicly updated that list in the years since, and immigrants have been arriving in the US in increasing numbers from some of those countries. For instance, [apprehensions of Chinese nationals](https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-immigrants-southwest-border-encounters-rise-1967350) at the US southern border jumped from less than 2,000 in fiscal year 2022 to over 36,000 in 2024. Many of them are fleeing economic hardship and political oppression following the country’s strict pandemic-era lockdowns. But China has been reluctant to accept its own citizens: The US sent a large deportation flight to China in July for the [first time in six years](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/03/us/us-china-migrants-deportation-flight.html). Though Venezuela was not previously on the list of recalcitrant countries, it also [stopped accepting deportation flights](https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/venezuela-halts-flights-of-deported-migrants-from-u-s-and-mexico-962f6149) from the US in February following the implementation of American sanctions. While the US was previously only returning a fraction of the millions fleeing Venezuela’s dictatorship, the Biden administration saw the deportation flights as a deterrent to further migration. US immigration agents [recorded more than 300,000 encounters](https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters) with Venezuelans in fiscal year 2024. All of these people, who number in at least the hundreds of thousands, could be targets for a deportation program that sends immigrants to third countries under Trump. Whether Trump can deport people to third countries in large numbers may depend on what happens in the ACLU’s pending lawsuits. But, again, existing legal authorities could allow him to carry out at least some of these removals. The ACLU has argued in its lawsuit challenging the rule underlying the US’s agreement with Guatemala that the agreement does not provide for sufficient screening to determine whether an immigrant would face “credible fear” of persecution in Guatemala. Under US and international law, immigrants cannot be returned to places where they would face such credible fear. At the time the agreement was established, Guatemala had the [ninth-highest homicide rate](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/19/20970868/asylum-rule-agreement-guatemala-el-salvador-honduras-safe-third-deport-dhs-doj) worldwide, at about 26 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, and the State Department had issued a [travel warning](https://coladca.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/guatemala.pdf) for US citizens in Guatemala. The rule also claimed that asylum seekers would only be sent to countries where they have “access to a full and fair procedure for determining a claim to asylum or equivalent temporary protection.” The Trump administration certified that Guatemala’s legal framework met that standard despite what Eiland called a “total dearth of evidence in the administrative record, and in fact … a lot of evidence to the contrary.” It’s not clear whether the same legal arguments would apply to any similar agreements Trump might broker with Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Panama, and Grenada. But in the meantime, Biden still has an opportunity to rescind the underlying rule that would allow additional agreements to be implemented. “With a little over a month to go till inauguration, they may do nothing, in which case the rule is still there. Theoretically, the Trump administration could come in and sign new agreements,” Eiland said. In its other lawsuit challenging the deportations of Venezuelans to Mexico, the ACLU has argued that such a use of the third-country removal authority is unprecedented and will result in “removal to situations in which noncitizens are likely to face persecution or torture.” The law lays out a detailed process for determining when an immigrant can be sent to a third country, and the ACLU has argued that the Biden administration is not abiding by it. If the courts uphold Biden’s use of the law, that would potentially open the door for Trump to do the same for additional citizens of recalcitrant countries, giving him another tool through which he could carry out his [plans for mass deportations](https://www.vox.com/politics/380582/mass-deportations-trump-history-alien-enemies). 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The US deported more than 270,000 immigrants in a recent 12-month period, the highest amount annually in a decade, according to a government report released on Thursday. The deportations were nearly double from 142,580 in the same period a year earlier and came as part of a broader push by Joe Biden to reduce illegal immigration. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) deported people to 192 countries in fiscal year 2024, which ended on 30 September, according to the agency’s annual enforcement report. The tally was the highest since 2014, which saw the removal of 315,943 people, and higher than any year of Donald Trump’s 2017-2021 administration, according to US government statistics. The US was able to increase forced removals with more deportation flights, including on weekends, and streamlined travel procedures for people sent to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Although Biden took office pledging to roll back Trump’s highly restrictive immigration policies, he toughened his enforcement approach as the US saw high levels of illegal immigration. Trump won another term in the White House in November promising to deport record numbers of immigrants in the US illegally as part of a broader immigration crackdown. Despite the large number of deportations under the [Biden administration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/biden-administration), Karoline Leavitt, Trump transition spokesperson, argued that they were insignificant compared with the high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency. “On day one, President Trump will fix the immigration and national security nightmare that Joe Biden created by launching the largest mass deportation operation of illegal criminals in United States history,” she said in a statement. Some 11 million immigrants lacked legal status or had temporary protections in 2022, according to government and thinktank estimates, a figure that some analysts now place at 13 million to 14 million. The incoming Trump administration plans to tap resources across the federal government to power the planned deportation initiative, Reuters reported last month. The Biden administration has helped lay the groundwork to expand immigration jails, [according to a Guardian investigation](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/05/biden-immigration-jails-trump-mass-deportation-plan), which is expected to boost Trump’s [plan](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/oct/31/election-trump-immigration-policies) for the mass deportation of undocumented people. Trump tried to increase deportations during his first term with limited success. Ice removed 267,000 immigrants in fiscal year 2019, fewer than most years under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. When looking at both deportations by Ice and returns to Mexico by US border authorities, Biden was responsible for more in fiscal year 2023 than any Trump year. While deportations rose in fiscal year 2024, the number of Ice arrests of immigrants living in the US illegally dropped by 33% compared with the previous year, the agency’s annual report said, attributing the falloff to more officers assisting with border security operations.

In a vast Amazon warehouse in central Ohio, the stress might seem to be all about the work. It’s the holidays, and like every other Amazon fulfillment center, the one in West Jefferson is under the gun. Hundreds of employees are working 12-hour shifts, racing to sort and pack thousands upon thousands of items destined to land in living rooms before for Christmas and Hanukkah. Yet, for many of the workers, there is a deep, unspoken unease. It has nothing to do with the holidays or Amazon. It has everything to do with being immigrants from Haiti in a nation that just elected Donald J. Trump as president. Many of them live a half-hour away in Springfield, the city that found itself dragged into the presidential campaign after Mr. Trump and his allies spread a debunked rumor that Haitians there were abducting and eating cats and dogs. It unleashed a raw, painful time for the city. There were bomb threats against schools and hospitals and marches by white supremacists. And thousands of Haitians, who in recent years had fled a violent, impoverished country and settled in the town of 60,000, found themselves wondering if they should continue to live in Springfield. Now, many of them fear they may not be able to stay in the United States. Mr. Trump has vowed to carry out mass deportations and to curtail programs, such as Temporary Protected Status, that have allowed many of the Haitians to remain in the country at least in the short term. And he has promised to target the thousands of Haitians living and working in and around Springfield. “Sometimes I can’t sleep, I am so worried,” said Frantzdy Jerome, 33, a Haitian immigrant, who works the overnight shift at the Amazon warehouse. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F23%2Fus%2Fhaitian-immigrants-trump-springfield.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F23%2Fus%2Fhaitian-immigrants-trump-springfield.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F23%2Fus%2Fhaitian-immigrants-trump-springfield.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F12%2F23%2Fus%2Fhaitian-immigrants-trump-springfield.html).

Almost immediately after [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) took office in 2017, he directed his administration to begin rounding up and deporting immigrants living in the country without authorization. He implemented a travel ban that caused chaos at airports, leaving families, students and scholars stranded. He also attempted to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program, which shields hundreds of thousands of people brought to the country as children from deportation and imposed a “zero-tolerance” at the US-Mexico border that led to the separation of thousands of families. Many immigration advocates fear that the next four years could be even worse. “The stakes are so much higher,” said Cathryn Paul, public policy director at Casa, an immigrant advocacy organization with a presence across the mid-Atlantic. Across the country, immigrant advocates, activists and legal aid groups are preparing to resist Trump’s pledge to deport millions of people living in the country without authorization – and his threat to end programs shielding tens of thousands of immigrants in the US on a lawful but temporary basis. To implement his sprawling [enforcement agenda](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/oct/31/election-trump-immigration-policies), Trump has appointed a team of immigration hardliners. Though the incoming administration has yet to offer specifics, Trump has said [he is prepared to activate](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/18/trump-military-mass-deportation) the US military to assist with deportations. His “border czar”, [Tom Homan](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/12/who-is-tom-homan-trump-border-czar), has threatened to withhold federal funds to states that refuse to cooperate, and when asked during an interview if there was a way for mass deportations not to separate families with mixed immigration statuses, he replied: “Families can be deported together.” (US citizens cannot be deported, but could choose to leave voluntarily.) Advocates anticipate high-profile raids at work sites and in immigrant communities that the president-elect targeted on the campaign trail. “We are trying to do everything we can to provide people with the facts, to provide people with the greatest level of information that we have and allow them to decide for themselves what they need to do for their safety and the safety of their family,” Paul said. Casa has been holding “know your rights” workshops to prepare people for Trump’s return to power. The presentations are not new, but Paul said attendance had risen since the November election. In recent weeks, schools and city councils have also reached out to Casa seeking guidance on how to protect students and residents who could be at risk of deportation. The workshops include role-playing, with step-by-step instructions for how to respond if, for example, “Ice knocks on your door,” Paul said, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The trainings run through what information to share – and not to share – and how to access legal representation. “We actually go through what exactly is needed to make sure that your family is prepared in the event you get picked up or an Ice raid happens at work and you get separated from your kids,” she added. Trainings are tailored to the specific political and legal climate of a certain location. Some states, such as California and Illinois, have already vowed to shield people from potential Trump administration immigration policies, while other places like Texas and Missouri are pushing legislation that would help Trump carry out his mass deportation pledge. The training also seeks to address the widespread fear that attending a doctor’s appointment, a school meeting or a church service could lead to their arrest. In his first term, Trump attempted to [impose what amounted to a wealth test](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/22/us/politics/immigrants-green-card-public-aid.html) for immigrants seeking permanent residency in the US by expanding the range of safety-net programs that would render an applicant ineligible. [Estimates](https://www.kff.org/report-section/estimated-impacts-of-final-public-charge-inadmissibility-rule-on-immigrants-and-medicaid-coverage-key-findings/) and anecdotal evidence suggest that the threat alone led many immigrant families, including US-citizen children, not to seek healthcare and other assistance for which they were eligible. Foday Turay, an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia who fled Sierra Leone as a child and is shielded from deportation by the Daca program, [told](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/10/trump-deportation-plan-senate-hearing) a Senate panel in December that fear can lead to a decline in reports of crime, especially [domestic violence](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/us/immigrants-houston-domestic-violence.html) and [sexual assault.](http://nytimes.com/2017/04/30/us/immigrants-deportation-sexual-abuse.html) “As a prosecutor, I know how delicate the ties between law enforcement and immigrants can be if immigrants are afraid to cooperate with the police or prosecutors like myself because they’re afraid of deportation,” he said. Additionally, advocacy and legal aid groups are urging immigrant families to put together plans in the event a loved one is detained or deported. The Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center has [published](https://immigrantjustice.org/know-your-rights/mass-deportation-threats) a resource guide with actions families can take now to be prepared. They suggest creating a safety plan that includes designating an emergency contact who can pick up a child from school and make medical and legal decisions for the child in the event a parent is detained. They also advise collecting all documents including immigration and financial information in a safe place that other families or an emergency contact can access. They also warn people to be aware of immigration fraud and digital scams. “Immigrants may be targeted by people wanting to exploit their situation to make money in order to avoid immigration fraud,” Elizabeth Gonzalez, a paralegal with the group says in a video. “Only seek legal advice from people who are authorized to give it.” A Phoenix-based group that advocates for undocumented young people and families with mixed-immigration status has prepared a “defense and preparation” checklist. The packet includes several forms to appoint a legal guardian and to authorize a designated contact to pick up paychecks for the person in deportation proceedings. Some of the efforts build on lessons learned during the first Trump administration. Workplace raids in Tennessee and Mississippi led organizers to create [an emergency response tool kit](https://www.nilc.org/resources/worksite-immigration-raids-toolkit/) for affected communities. The guide outlines five actions to take in the moments following a worksite raid, including designating a single place such as a community center or church for families and responders to gather. But advocates and activists say community organizers can only do so much. Resisting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown will require a broad coalition of immigrant rights groups, school administrators and local governments to be effective. Advocates are pushing their local and state governments to take actions now that could slow the federal government’s ability to carry out deportations on mass scale. This includes a push for so-called “sanctuary city” policies that prevent local and state law enforcement from aiding federal immigration officials as they seek to detain and deport immigrants. “Trump is promising massive deportations on day one, and we’re preparing to defend our communities on day one,” Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, an alderman on Chicago’s city council, [told](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/29/trump-mass-deportation-plan-cities) the Guardian in November. Advocates are also urging state and local governments to restrict immigration officials from carrying out arrests in sensitive locations like schools, hospitals and churches; to cancel contracts that allow Ice to use local jails and facilities to detain immigrants; and to take steps to better protect the data they collect on undocumented residents. Some places have established legal defense funds for immigrants facing deportation. Meanwhile, organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are studying various proposed changes to immigration and asylum law in preparation for potential legal challenges. Earlier this year, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Ice, seeking more information about how the agency might carry out Trump’s proposed mass deportation campaign. “There are a lot of things that we can do – that we are doing – to engage our immigrant families and the broader community as a whole,” Paul said.

The Social Security Administration receives billions in free money each year from an unexpected source: undocumented immigrants. This group paid an estimated $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes in 2022, according to a recent [analysis](https://itep.org/undocumented-immigrants-taxes-2024) from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning tax research group. Since unauthorized workers cannot collect retirement and other Social Security benefits without a change to their immigration status, the billions they pour into the program effectively act as a subsidy for American beneficiaries. President-elect Donald J. Trump has vowed to carry out the nation’s largest mass deportation program to date, and restrict legal pathways to immigration. It’s hard to predict whether the incoming administration will be able to follow through with its most aggressive promises, among them [sending home](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/24/us/trump-immigrants-deportations.html) the estimated [11 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/us/trump-immigration-republicans-explained.html) undocumented workers currently in the United States. But if the White House does follow through, economists project a broad [drag](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/22/business/economy/immigration-trump-economy.html) on [the economy](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/business/economy/trump-immigration-inflation-prices.html) — and it could cost Social Security roughly $20 billion in cash flow annually, according to actuaries at the Social Security Administration, which sends [benefits](https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/basicfact-alt.pdf) to 68 million Americans each month, totaling $1.5 trillion last year. Social Security has faced a financing shortfall for years, partly because of demographic shifts. Falling [birthrates](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/health/fertility-births-vance.html) mean fewer people are paying into the program, thousands of baby boomers are retiring daily, and retirees are collecting benefits for longer periods. “America’s demographic realities are increasingly challenging for financing programs like Social Security,” said Shai Akabas, executive director of the economic policy program at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit. “Net immigration into the country is one factor that has positively pushed against that trend and helped fill the gap left by an aging work force.” Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F13%2Fbusiness%2Fsocial-security-undocumented-immigrants.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F13%2Fbusiness%2Fsocial-security-undocumented-immigrants.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F13%2Fbusiness%2Fsocial-security-undocumented-immigrants.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F01%2F13%2Fbusiness%2Fsocial-security-undocumented-immigrants.html).

[The Trump administration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-administration) is issuing a new round of heavy-handed measures that could rapidly deport immigrants who entered the United States through recently established legal pathways, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security memo obtained [the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/us/politics/trump-immigrants-deportation.html). The directive, signed by the acting homeland security secretary, Benjamine Huffman, grants Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials unprecedented authority to expedite deportations for immigrants who entered the country with government authorization through two key Biden-era programs. These programs, which have allowed more than a million immigrants to enter the country since 2023, had provided scheduling for migrants or asylum seekers through [the government-run app](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/trump-immigration-policies) CBP One or temporary legal status for up to two years through a parole program for certain countries. The newly reported memo instructs Ice officials to identify and potentially rapidly deport immigrants who have been in the country for over a year and have not yet applied for asylum, in effect sidestepping traditional [immigration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/usimmigration) court proceedings. In no waste of time, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, [posted on X](https://x.com/PressSec/status/1882759560613527770) on Friday: “Deportation flights have begun,” accompanied by official pictures of people boarding a military-style aircraft. Despite such flights being routine under successive administrations, the White House is promoting such images strongly and also deployed troops to the border late on Thursday, including US marines [arriving](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/newark-mayor-immigration-raid) in Boeing Osprey aircraft in California. The developments come as so-called sanctuary cities [like Chicago](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/24/trump-immigration-crackdown), Newark and Denver are experiencing direct impacts of the administration’s hardline immigration stance. In Newark, Mayor Ras Baraka condemned a small-scale local [Ice raid](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/newark-mayor-immigration-raid) on Thursday that he claimed resulted in the detention of both undocumented residents and citizens – including a US military veteran. And Denver’s mayor, Mike Johnston, [told CNN](https://denverite.com/2025/01/21/denver-mayor-mike-johnston-ice-deportations/) the city would cooperate with Ice to deport “violent criminals”, but pushed back against arrests in schools and churches. A DHS spokesperson [defended the new policies](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/01/21/statement-dhs-spokesperson-directives-expanding-law-enforcement-and-ending-abuse), writing in a statement that “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” and that the administration “trusts law enforcement to use common sense”. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already [challenged the policy](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/immigrants-rights-advocates-sue-trump-administration-over-fast-track-deportation-policy) in federal court, with the senior staff attorney Anand Balakrishnan characterizing the approach as a “mass deportation agenda” that circumvents constitutional due process. Stephen Miller, a key architect of Trump’s hardline immigration policies, has been vocal in his opposition to the immigration programs of the last administration, previously criticizing the admission of immigrants from what he termed “failed states”. Thousands who had received or were waiting for CBP One appointments south of the border were [left devastated](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/trump-cbp-one-app-cancelled-mexico) this week after the app was abruptly shut down moments after Trump was sworn in, while those [already in the country](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/16/trump-deportation-cbp-one-app-migration) using the app and who were preparing to apply for asylum may now be in the line of fire. Later on Friday, the [Trump administration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-administration) followed up, announcing that it was expanding a fast-track deportation authority nationwide, allowing immigration officers to deport people without appearing before a judge. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/24/legal-immigrant-deportation-trump-ice#EmailSignup-skip-link-14) Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion The administration said it was expanding the use of “expedited removal” authority so it can be used across the country, in a notice in the Federal Register outlining the new rules. “Expedited removal” gives enforcement agencies broad authority to deport people without requiring them to appear before an immigration judge. There are limited exceptions, including if they express fear of returning home and pass an initial screening interview for asylum. Critics have said there is too much risk that people who have the right to be in the country will be mistakenly swept up by agents and officers and that not enough is done to protect immigrants who have genuine reason to fear being sent home. The powers were created under a 1996 law. But these powers were not widely used until 2004, when homeland security said it would use expedited removal authority for people arrested within two weeks of entering the US by land and caught within 100 miles of the border. That meant it was used mostly against immigrants recently arrived in the country. In the notice on Friday the administration said the authority could be used across the country and would go into effect immediately. The notice said the person put into expedited removal “bears the affirmative burden to show to the satisfaction of an immigration officer” that they have the right to be in the US. _The Associated Press contributed reporting_

Outside a nondescript storefront in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a line of people stretched down the block. They stood rocking babies, pushing toddlers in strollers and clutching thick envelopes of paperwork. They were looking for help with visa requests, work permits, green card applications and citizenship paperwork, all in hopes of living and working legally in New York. Inside sat Msgr. James Kelly, an 87-year-old priest turned lawyer who leads a team that provides guidance, at a steep discount, to immigrants seeking legal status. The work they do out of their cramped office, District Three Immigration Services, has never been in greater demand — and their ability to help has never been less guaranteed. What began as a passion project for Father Kelly when he arrived in New York from Ireland 65 years ago has become a lifeline for immigrants who are terrified about President Trump’s promises of mass deportations. On a recent weekday, the line of people looking for help appeared never-ending. A rudimentary sign taped to the front door denoting a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m. was summarily ignored. Before the inauguration, the office would typically see 50 clients in a day; that number is now up to 80. One mother said she was afraid to send her child to school. Others said family members were deciding to leave the country rather than risk being forcibly sent away. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F07%2Fnyregion%2Fnyc-immigrants-trump-brooklyn.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F07%2Fnyregion%2Fnyc-immigrants-trump-brooklyn.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F07%2Fnyregion%2Fnyc-immigrants-trump-brooklyn.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F02%2F07%2Fnyregion%2Fnyc-immigrants-trump-brooklyn.html).

The [Trump administration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-administration) will require undocumented immigrants aged 14 and older to register with the federal government or face possible fines or prosecution. The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that under the “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” executive order signed by [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) last month undocumented immigrants must also provide their fingerprints, while parents must ensure children under 14 are registered. The department will provide “evidence” of their registration and those 18 and over must carry that document at all times. The announcement comes as the US president has sought to harshly crackdown on immigration and implement a mass deportation campaign. Since taking office, his administration has attempted to suspend a refugee resettlement program (a judge [blocked](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/25/trump-refugee-resettlement-program) the cancellation), moved to cut off [legal aid](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/18/trump-administration-legal-aid-immigrant-children) for immigrant kids (although it later walked back that decision), sought to allow immigration raids in [schools and churches](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/trump-ice-churches-schools-hospitals-sensitive-areas) (another judge blocked such efforts in some [houses of worship](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-judge-immigration-arrests-places-of-worship-quakers-baptists-sikhs/)) and has begun sending undocumented immigrants to [Guantánamo](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/trump-guantanamo-bay-migrants). Under the program announced this week, undocumented immigrants 14 and older in the US for 30 days or more will be required to register and undergo fingerprinting. Parents and guardians must register children under 14, and once children reach that age they must reapply and be fingerprinted, DHS said on its website. Those who do not comply can face criminal penalties, including misdemeanor prosecution, and fines. According to the [Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-immigration-migrant-registry-jail-time-95c405a7?mod=e2tw), which first reported on the registry, undocumented immigrants will also be required to provide their home addresses and that failing to register could result in fines of up to $5,000 and six months in prison. The law has long been on the books, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said in an interview on Fox News, but she will start enforcing it as the [Trump administration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-administration) seeks to use “every single tool at \[its\] disposal” to implement the president’s promised immigration crackdown. By registering, undocumented immigrants can avoid criminal charges and the federal government will “help them” return to their home country, allowing them to eventually return to the US, she said. “If they don’t register, they are breaking the federal law, which has always been in place,” Noem said. “We’re just going to start enforcing it to make sure these aliens go back home and when they want to be an American they can go and visit us again. “We’re going to use this tool to make sure we’re following our law to provide people an opportunity to go home and come back and be a part of our country’s future in the right way,” she continued. According to the National Immigration Law Center, the Alien Registration Act of 1940 is the only time the federal government implemented a “comprehensive campaign to require all noncitizens to register”. The immigration advocacy group warned that the registry would be used to help find targets for deportation. [skip past newsletter promotion](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/26/trump-undocumented-immgrants-registry#EmailSignup-skip-link-10) Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration **Privacy Notice:** Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our [Privacy Policy](https://www.theguardian.com/help/privacy-policy). We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google [Privacy Policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy) and [Terms of Service](https://policies.google.com/terms) apply. after newsletter promotion “Any attempt by the Trump administration to create a registration process for noncitizens previously unable to register would be used to identify and target people for detention and deportation,” the center said. _Associated Press contributed to_ _reporting_

President Donald Trump says his “gold cards” will be available for wealthy foreigners — and U.S. companies that want to hire skilled immigrants. That could help eliminate “brain waste,” a term coined to describe a nation or state’s failure to utilize skilled immigrants, such as people with college degrees or certificates from a trade school. The Migration Policy Insitute found that [some 2.1 million](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/college-educated-immigrants-united-states#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20approximately%202.1%20million,getting%20their%20credentials%20recognized%20or) college-educated immigrants in the U.S. were either unemployed or had low-skilled jobs as of 2022, according to a recent report. On Wednesday, Trump said that he wanted immigrants who attend top colleges like Harvard University or Yale University to stay in the U.S. after graduation. “They’re made job offers but the offer is immediately rescinded because you have no idea whether or not that person can stay in the country,” Trump said [during the first cabinet meeting of his second term](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMpL4Hze__4). “These companies can go and buy a gold card and they can use it as a matter of recruitment.” “At the same time, the company is using that money to pay down debt,” he continued, naming Apple ([AAPL\-2.85%](https://qz.com/quote/AAPL)) as an example of a firm that could benefit. In Trump’s [hypothetical](https://www.youtube.com/live/OMpL4Hze__4?si=k5ExJZ_ZImC6qtcT&t=1671), a company like Apple would buy five licenses and hire as many people. That adds another dimension to the plan Trump said he was considering on Tuesday when he described selling what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the “Trump Gold Card.” Wealthy individuals would be able to spend $5 million to apply to become lawful permanent residents under the plan, which Trump said would be rolled out in two weeks. The cards will modify the [EB-5 immigrant investor visa](https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program), Lutnick said Wednesday. The current program gives residency to foreigners who invest at least $1.05 million in a new business that creates jobs, or $800,000 in a rural area, infrastructure project, or an area with high unemployment. The new visas won’t have a job requirement, Trump said, comparing the process of a company hiring from a college or elsewhere to “paying an athlete a bonus.” “The biggest complaint I get from companies... is the fact that they can’t have any longevity with people,” Trump said. “This way they pretty much have unlimited longevity.” Lutnick said that 200,000 purchases of gold cards would be worth $1 trillion “to pay down our debt” and help the Trump administration balance the federal budget. Trump advertised more dramatic hypotheticals that saw the administration sell 1 million or 10 million gold cards. “I don’t know that we’re gonna sell that many. Maybe we won’t sell many at all,” Trump said. “But I think we’re gonna sell a lot....no other country can do this.”

For decades, detaining undocumented immigrant families has been a contentious enforcement tactic. Critics of “family detention” have said young children suffer in confinement. Proponents say that locking families up while they await likely deportation sends a stark message about the consequences of entering the United States illegally. Now, after falling out of use under the Biden administration, family detention is being resurrected by President Trump, as his administration marches forward on its promise to crackdown on immigrants. Families have begun to arrive in recent days at a detention facility in South Texas, and immigration lawyers are expecting more to be brought in the coming days. A second detention center, also in South Texas, is being readied for families. Each of the facilities is being set up to hold thousands of people. At one site, lawyers say, multiple families are being detained in rooms with four to eight bunk beds and shared bathroom facilities. Family detention was used during the previous Trump administration and during the Obama administration, and children were provided some medical care and some educational instruction. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the same services would be offered at the reopened facilities. Most of those families previously detained were Central Americans who had recently crossed the southern border, and many were expected to be swiftly deported, unless they sought asylum and expressed [credible fear](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/us/seeking-to-stop-migrants-from-risking-trip-us-speeds-the-path-to-deportation-for-families.html) of returning to their home countries. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and [log into](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F17%2Fus%2Ffamily-detention-immigrants-trump.html&asset=opttrunc) your Times account, or [subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F17%2Fus%2Ffamily-detention-immigrants-trump.html) for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F17%2Fus%2Ffamily-detention-immigrants-trump.html&asset=opttrunc). Want all of The Times? [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F17%2Fus%2Ffamily-detention-immigrants-trump.html).

The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to help homeland security officials locate immigrants they are trying to deport, according to three officials familiar with the matter, in a shift toward using protected taxpayer information to help President Trump’s mass deportation push. Under a draft of an agreement between the I.R.S. and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the tax agency would verify whether immigration officials had the right home address for people who have been ordered to leave the United States, according to a copy of the document viewed by The New York Times. Many undocumented immigrants file tax returns with the I.R.S., giving the agency information about where they live, their families, their employers and their earnings. The I.R.S. has long encouraged undocumented immigrants to pay their taxes, giving people without Social Security numbers a separate nine-digit code called an individual taxpayer identification number to file their returns. Tax information is closely guarded because federal law bars improper disclosure. I.R.S. officials had resisted earlier requests from the Department of Homeland Security to turn over information about unauthorized immigrants, warning that doing so could violate federal law. But the Trump administration has since [replaced the top I.R.S. lawyer](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/us/politics/trump-irs-lawyer-doge.html), and the agreement now under discussion appears to be narrower than [an earlier request](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/irs-immigrants-addresses.html), which asked the I.R.S. to hand over, rather than confirm, migrants’ addresses. Officials were still finalizing the agreement, the terms of which were earlier [reported by The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2025/03/22/ice-irs-immigrants-deport/). A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, which oversees the I.R.S., did not respond to a request for comment. ICE also did not respond to a request for comment. The Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly tried to enlist I.R.S. agents in its broad immigration crackdown, asking them to audit companies that might be hiring unauthorized immigrants.

The [Trump administration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-administration) has moved to classify more than 6,000 living [immigrants](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/usimmigration) as dead, canceling their social security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country, according to two people familiar with the situation. The move will make it much harder for those affected to use banks or other basic services where social security numbers are required. It’s part of a broader effort by [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump) to crack down on immigrants who were allowed to enter and remain temporarily in the United States under programs instituted by the US president’s predecessor Joe Biden. The [Trump administration](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-administration) is moving the immigrants’ names and legally obtained social security numbers to a database that federal officials normally use to track the deceased, according to the two people familiar with the moves and their ramifications. They spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday night because the plans had not yet been publicly detailed. The officials said stripping the immigrants of their social security numbers will cut them off from many financial services and encourage them to “self-deport” and abandon the US for their birth countries. A social security number is a unique nine-digit number issued by the federal government to US citizens, permanent residents and temporary working residents and used for various official and identification purposes, including tracking earnings and contributions to the social security system that pays, in effect, state pension in retirement. It wasn’t immediately clear how the 6,000-plus immigrants were chosen. But the Trump White House has targeted people in the country temporarily under Biden-era programs, including more than 900,000 immigrants who entered the US using that [administration’s CBP One app](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/08/trump-immigration-cbp-one-biden). On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked the legal status of the immigrants who used that app. They had generally been allowed to remain in the US for two years with work authorization under presidential parole authority during the Biden era, but are now expected to self-deport. Meanwhile, a federal judge said on Thursday that she was stopping the Trump administration from ordering hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans with [temporary legal status](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/05/immigration-venezuelans-detained-legal-status) to leave the country later this month. A representative from the Social Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment on the news that living immigrants were being classified as dead. The agency maintains the most complete federal database of individuals who have died, and the file contains more than 142m records, which go back to 1899. The Privacy Act allows the Social Security Administration to disclose information to law enforcement in limited circumstances, which includes when a violent crime has been committed or other criminal activity. The DHS and the treasury department signed a deal this week that would allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) for the purpose of identifying and deporting people deemed to be illegally in the US. The agreement will allow Ice to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the US illegally, in the government’s view, to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. The acting IRS commissioner, Melanie Krause, who had served in that capacity since February, stepped down over that deal. In March, meanwhile, a federal judge temporarily blocked a team charged with cutting federal jobs and shrinking the government, led by billionaire [Elon Musk](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/elon-musk), from social security systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans, calling their work there a “fishing expedition”. Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, an advocacy group that has challenged various Trump administration efforts in court, said her organization would likely sue over the social security numbers as well, once more details become available. “This president continues to engage in lawless behavior, violating the law, and abusing our systems of checks and balances,” Perryman said.

[Mohsen Mahdawi](https://www.wsj.com/us-news/palestinian-columbia-student-detained-by-ice-at-u-s-citizenship-interview-94855355), a Palestinian student at Columbia University, went into a US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Vermont on Monday for his scheduled naturalization interview. But instead of being granted citizenship, he was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which started the [process to deport him](https://theintercept.com/2025/04/14/ice-columbia-student-mohsen-mahdawi-citizenship-interview/). In a memo reviewed by the New York Times, [Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/nyregion/rubio-mahdawi-deportation-letter.html) that Mahdawi’s activities — like the protests he helped lead at Columbia — undermined US foreign policy and threatened the Middle East peace process. What happened to Mahdawi is alarming on many levels. Mahdawi has legal status as a permanent resident and has lived in the United States for the past decade. He wasn’t charged with a crime, but, like [Mahmoud Khalil](https://www.vox.com/policy/406067/mahmoud-khalil-detention-pro-palestinian-arrests-deportations), another Palestinian Columbia student and green card holder, was detained and ordered to be deported simply for having and expressing views that the secretary of state does not like. And what’s especially notable about Mahdawi’s case is that he wasn’t arrested at his home or kidnapped off the street; ICE surprised him during a scheduled appointment with immigration services. In other words, he was arrested during a voluntary interaction with the federal government. This is not the only case where the government has punished immigrants for following the rules. For years, the IRS has encouraged undocumented immigrants to file their taxes, promising to keep their data private so that they won’t be targeted by immigration agencies. But under the Trump administration, the IRS recently reached an agreement to [share sensitive data on undocumented taxpayers](https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/15/us/irs-dhs-taxes-immigrants-betrayed-cec/index.html) with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This is just one of many promises that the federal government has walked back since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The message that sends to immigrants is clear: _You have no reason to trust us. Interacting with us might put you in danger_. And the result will be more and more immigrants being pushed to live in the shadows. “Part of the Trump administration’s strategy is to sow as much chaos, fear, and panic as they can in this moment to really make our communities feel as unsafe as possible,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. “While they continue to say that they’re doing all that they can around safety and security, we know that that is not their point. Cruelty is.” The [IRS promise to undocumented immigrants](https://www.npr.org/2025/04/08/g-s1-59056/irs-dhs-information-sharing-deal-immigrants-tax-records) that their data would remain confidential had been working: [Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in taxes](https://itep.org/turning-irs-agents-to-deportation-will-reduce-public-revenues/) in 2022, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Now, that’s all jeopardized, and the acting commissioner of the IRS is resigning, at least in part because of the deal between her agency and DHS, CNN reported. Details of the data-sharing agreement are sparse because much of what has been made public has been redacted, so it’s unclear what kind of [data the IRS will be passing on to immigration authorities](https://www.npr.org/2025/04/08/g-s1-59056/irs-dhs-information-sharing-deal-immigrants-tax-records) or when. What’s available so far makes clear that [ICE can request data from the IRS](https://www.npr.org/2025/04/08/g-s1-59056/irs-dhs-information-sharing-deal-immigrants-tax-records) on immigrants who are under investigation, including those who have overstayed in the country for more than 90 days. But while attorneys in the Justice Department have argued that the new agreement is lawful and “includes clear guardrails to ensure compliance,” that does very little to [assure immigrants that the act of filing their taxes](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/08/irs-agrees-to-share-tax-data-with-immigration-authorities-00278548) — or putting any trust in the federal government more broadly — won’t come back to haunt them later. Seeing the IRS break with precedent will only discourage people from filing taxes and puts them at serious risk. “It’s like a broken promise. It’s like a betrayal,” [one immigrant told NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/immigrants-fear-deportation-filing-taxes-irs-ice-agreement-rcna200822). “Instead of being thanked for their contributions and for them actually following tax compliance, now — because they followed the law, because they filed \[their taxes\] — their data is now being shared to be used against them for immigration enforcement,” Awawdeh said. The IRS breaking its promise to undocumented immigrants goes a long way in undermining trust in the federal government. But the government is also betraying immigrants with legal status, as Mahdawi’s case shows. Hundreds of thousands of migrants scheduled immigration-related appointments on a government-issued app during the Biden administration, just as they were encouraged to do. But under the Trump administration, the federal government [has targeted those same people](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/migrants-trump.html) who had been legally living and working in the United States. Now, tens of thousands of them have been notified that their legal status is being terminated and that they will have to leave the country within a week. Since President Donald Trump’s assault on universities and his crackdown on pro-Palestinian student activists, foreign students and legal immigrants have been living in fear of their visas or even green cards being revoked because they support Palestinian rights. Some stories are especially unnerving, like the [case of Rümeysa Öztürk](https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/us/rumeysa-ozturk-arrest-update-tufts-university/index.html), a Tufts University student who was essentially kidnapped by plainclothes officers while walking down the street and is now being held in a Louisiana detention facility. The Trump administration has also warned Harvard that it will [block the university from enrolling international students](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/us/politics/trump-harvard-international-students.html) if it does not share information about its student body with the federal government, including details on foreign students who have taken part in “dangerous” activities. Even if immigrants become naturalized citizens, the Trump administration is still giving them cause for concern in what should otherwise be routine interactions with the government. Over the weekend, for example, Bachir Atallah, a real estate attorney who has been a US citizen for 10 years, was detained at the US-Canada border while going through customs, where he says US Customs and Border Protection [handcuffed him and looked through his emails](https://www.nbcboston.com/news/politics/treated-like-a-criminal-us-citizen-says-he-was-detained-returning-from-canada/3686188/) on his phone. Atallah says that the officers didn’t give him an explanation for why he was being detained. “Even if you ask questions, they say, ‘We don’t know, it’s the government,’” [he told NBC’s Boston affiliate](https://www.nbcboston.com/news/politics/treated-like-a-criminal-us-citizen-says-he-was-detained-returning-from-canada/3686188/). “It’s pushing people further into the shadows.” — Murad Awawdeh, New York Immigration Coalition’s president and CEO The Trump administration is, in other words, targeting people with every kind of immigration status, from undocumented immigrants to lawful permanent residents to naturalized citizens. Refugees are also under threat: A Venezuelan man who had refugee status was [deported to El Salvador](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article302464134.html), where he’s now detained in a notorious maximum security prison, all for having a tattoo that authorities thought signaled gang affiliation. (Trump has even suggested sending native-born American citizens to that prison, saying, “[The homegrowns are next](https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5366178/trump-deport-jail-u-s-citizens-homegrowns-el-salvador).”) All of these actions put immigrants — undocumented or otherwise — in an impossible position: If they don’t listen to the government, they risk running afoul of the law. But taking the government at its word might be what actually leads to their arrest and potential deportation. That means any contact with the government will feel especially risky, be it visiting the DMV, going through airport security, or reporting a crime to local law enforcement. “It’s pushing people further into the shadows,” Awawdeh said. “One of our bigger fears, in addition to the way in which we have been seeing the administration targeting our communities, is that when \[members of\] our communities are actually victims of crimes, that they are not going to step forward, they’re not going to seek help.” The steps that the Trump administration is taking are part of a bigger push to not only reduce immigration but to further establish tiered citizenship, where immigrants are a permanent underclass who can’t ever trust that the government will respect their rights, even after they become citizens. “This is the country that we’re living in right now,” Awawdeh said, “where the number one focus is to create a second-class citizenry.” See More: * [Immigration](https://www.vox.com/immigration) * [Policy](https://www.vox.com/policy) * [Politics](https://www.vox.com/politics)

Shortly after midnight early Saturday morning, the Supreme Court handed down a brief order forbidding the Trump administration from [removing a group of Venezuelan immigrants from the United States without due process](https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/041925zr_c18e.pdf). The facts of this case, known as _A.A.R.P. v. Trump_, are uncertain and rapidly developing. Much of what we do know about the _A.A.R.P._ case comes from an [emergency application](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A1007/356063/20250418172902261_2025.04.18%20AARP%20Application.pdf) filed by immigration lawyers at the ACLU late Friday night. According to that application, the government started moving Venezuelan immigrants around the United States to a detention facility in Texas, without offering much of an explanation about why it was doing so. Sometime on Friday, an unknown number of these immigrants — the [ACLU claims](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A1007/356063/20250418172902261_2025.04.18%20AARP%20Application.pdf) “dozens or hundreds” — were allegedly given an English-language document, despite the fact that many of them only speak Spanish, indicating that they’ve been designated for removal from the country under the Alien Enemies Act. That law [only permits the government to deport people during a time of war or military invasion](https://www.vox.com/scotus/406719/trump-attack-immigrants-supreme-court), but President Donald Trump has claimed that it gives him the power to remove Venezuelans who, he alleges, are members of a criminal gang. Immigrants who were previously deported under this dubious legal justification were [sent to a prison in El Salvador](https://www.vox.com/scotus/406719/trump-attack-immigrants-supreme-court), which is known for widespread human rights abuses. Following those deportations, the Supreme Court ruled the government must give any immigrant whom [Trump attempts to deport](https://www.vox.com/scotus/407511/supreme-court-trump-jgg-deportations-el-salvador) under this wartime statute “notice and an opportunity to challenge their removal.” The ACLU lawyers argue the government is attempting to defy this order, claiming that the immigrants at the Texas facility were told that their “removals are imminent and will happen today” — a timeline that did not provide a real opportunity to challenge their removal. In a [Friday hearing on the matter](https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/04/18/aclu-alien-enemies-deportations-trump/), the government did not give an exact timeline for deportations, but said it “reserve\[d\] the right” to deport the immigrants as soon as Saturday, and that the government was in compliance with the Supreme Court’s first order. Assuming that the facts in the ACLU’s application are correct, this rushed process, where immigrants are moved to a facility without explanation, given a last-minute notice that many of them do not understand, and then potentially sent to El Salvador before they have a meaningful opportunity to challenge that removal, does seem to violate the Supreme Court’s April 7 decision in [_Trump v. J.G.G._](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a931_2c83.pdf) The Court’s [late-night order in _A.A.R.P._](https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/041925zr_c18e.pdf) appears to be crafted to ensure that this notice and opportunity for a hearing mandated by _J.G.G._ actually takes place. It is just one paragraph and states that “the Government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this Court.” It also invites the Justice Department to respond to the ACLU’s application “as soon as possible.” Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the _A.A.R.P._ order. Though neither has explained why yet, the order says that a statement from Alito will come soon. Thus far, the Supreme Court has been extraordinarily tolerant of Trump’s efforts to evade judicial review through hypertechnical procedural arguments. Though the _J.G.G._ decision required the Trump administration to give these Venezuelan immigrants a hearing, for example, it also guaranteed that many — likely most — of those hearings [would take place in Texas](https://www.vox.com/scotus/407511/supreme-court-trump-jgg-deportations-el-salvador), which has some of the most right-wing federal judges in the country. Though it is just one order, Saturday’s post-midnight order suggests that the Court may no longer tolerate procedural shenanigans intended to evade meaningful judicial review. If the ACLU’s application is accurate, the Trump administration appears to have believed that it could comply with the Court’s decision in _J.G.G._ by giving men who are about to be deported a last-minute notice that many of them cannot even understand. Whether most of the justices choose to tolerate this kind of malicious half-compliance with their decisions will likely become clear in the coming days. The Court’s _A.A.R.P._ order suggests that they will not. Still, it remains to be seen how this case will play out once it is fully litigated. The post-midnight order is only temporary. And it leaves open all of the most important issues in this case, including whether Trump can rely on a wartime statute to deport people during peacetime. See More: * [Donald Trump](https://www.vox.com/donald-trump) * [Immigration](https://www.vox.com/immigration) * [Policy](https://www.vox.com/policy) * [Politics](https://www.vox.com/politics) * [Supreme Court](https://www.vox.com/scotus)