Trump’s approach to immigration didn’t come out of nowhere

"There's like a pride in the fact that we are terrorizing these communities."

KIRA BREKKE
MAY 3, 2018, 11:38 AM

Since President Trump took office, immigrants have been living with constant fear.

More than 260,000 immigrants have lost their Temporary Protected Status. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is under constant attack. Mass raids are detaining hundreds of people at a time. Pathways to documented immigration are being cut off.

While there has always been an ebb and flow in how presidential administrations handle immigration, the Trump administration has waged an all out war on immigrant communities since January 2017.

“There is a viciousness in which this administration relishes targeting people and feels just shameless in the embracing of that,” Avideh Moussavian, senior policy attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, told ThinkProgress.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is detaining people at green card interviews. Immigration rights activists have been arrested. In October, a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy seeking medical treatment was targeted by ICE. Many cities have seen a spike in courthouse arrests. The Trump administration is quietly cracking down on documented immigrants, targeting foreign nationals on worker visas.

While this list is far from comprehensive, it illuminates how, in Trump’s America, every non-citizen is vulnerable, regardless of their situation. “Every day we wake up with a new assault on immigrants that is an assault on their belonging or worth to the United States,” Sirine Shebaya, Senior Staff Attorney at Muslim Advocates, said. “That’s like an assault that feels personal and targeted and feels like it’s about, not just being an immigrant, but being a person of color.”

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