As terrible as Donald Trump's immigration policies have been -- and they have been horrible, cruel and chaotic -- they may be only one of the tools in the ultimate goal: the dismantling of American democracy.
A special report released July 23 by the American Immigration Council offers a sweeping analysis of the Trump administration’s first six months back in office, revealing an unprecedented transformation of the US immigration system that strikes at the foundation of American democracy.
Power is intended to be spread between the state and federal governments and, at the federal level, across the legislative, executive and judicial branches. Under Trump, the legislative and judicial branches, represented byCongress and the Supreme Court, have succumbed to Trump's White House. The checks and balances as designed by the Constitution's writers, has virtually disappeared.
Key findings from the report include:
The American Immigration Council writes in an statement that Trump's immigration policy, is an attack on America's democracy, undoing the nation's steady progress towards a more perfect union. People, including federal judges and elected officials, are getting arrested, detained and manhandled for protesting Trump, asking federal agents for a judicial warrant, insisting on those agents for proper identification or unmask themselves, or demanding for due process.
Even asking a question of the Homeland Security secretary merits arrest. The fact that all of these sentences refer to things that have happened to elected government officials is not irrelevant – it sends a message to everyone less powerful that they are not safe either.
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While some voters may have supported a “tougher” approach on immigration when voting for Trump, the report describes how the administration’s extreme actions go far beyond policy shifts: they are corrosive to the rule of law itself.
The report, titled Mass Deportation: Analyzing the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Immigrants, Democracy, and America, published on July 23 by the American Immigration Council, lays out how the administration has executed a radical, multi-front attack on immigrants and the immigration system.
“This isn’t just a hardline immigration agenda,” says Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council and co-author of the report. “It’s a wholesale effort to use immigrants and the U.S. immigration system to attack core tenets of our democracy and exercise unchecked executive power to realign the American government around exclusion and fear.”
The report, titled Mass Deportation: Analyzing the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Immigrants, Democracy, and America, published on July 23 by the American Immigration Council, lays out how the administration has executed a radical, multi-front attack on immigrants and the immigration system.
FYI: Read the report here.These actions have included limiting who can come to the United States, stripping legal protections from those already here, and ramping up enforcement to historic levels. And in the process, the Trump administration has dismantled long-standing legal protections, defied the authority of Congress and the courts, and weaponized government power against immigrants and dissenters alike.
“This isn’t just a hardline immigration agenda,” says Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council and co-author of the report. “It’s a wholesale effort to use immigrants and the U.S. immigration system to attack core tenets of our democracy and exercise unchecked executive power to realign the American government around exclusion and fear.”
Key findings from the report include:
- The end of asylum. Asylum at the southern border is effectively dead. The administration shut down the CBP One application and did not replace it with anything else. Asylum-seekers who approach a port of entry are turned away, and in some cases, asylum-seekers are being detained indefinitely, even after winning their cases.
- Demolishing the refugee program. The administration indefinitely suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program — except for white South Africans who have been fast-tracked via executive order and under dubious persecution claims. Tens of thousands of approved refugees remain stranded abroad.
- Mass revocation of legal status: The administration aggressively revoked humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from over a million people in just six months, stripping work permits and pushing many into undocumented status.
- Weaponizing bureaucracy: Legal immigration pathways are being jammed by massive fee hikes, processing freezes, and opaque barriers that make it nearly impossible for even lawful applicants to get or maintain status.
- A maelstrom of fear and chaos: The Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement tactics have caused immigrants of all legal statuses to constantly worry about their daily and future safety in the United States. Anyone can be targeted for arrest, detention, and deportation, and people can be targeted anywhere, including at churches, schools and courthouses.
- A radical reorganization of law enforcement resources: The Trump administration is creating an unprecedented, cross-agency immigration operation that draws on manpower across several federal and state law enforcement agencies and the U.S. military — prioritizing immigration enforcement above all other public safety and law enforcement goals.
- Turbocharging an inhumane detention system. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill Act” enacted in July increases ICE’s detention budget by 308 percent on an annual basis. This sets the government up to radically expand a detention system whose careless and cruel management has already put tens of thousands of immigrants in life-threatening conditions.
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Among the first AANHPI communities to protest Trump's attack against immigrants was the Japanese Americans. During the Day of Remembrance in February, they linked the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans to today's detention and deportation of immigrants.
“You don’t see people with blonde hair and blue eyes in these [modern detention] camps. No, you see brown people, you see Black people. You see people of color, just like you saw when we were in camps,” said Paul Tomita, who was 3-years old when he and his family were incarcerated in one of the WWII camps. “Just like what happened to us, you see laws and policies being put into place to discount people and their humanity. They don’t want us to work together and see these parallels, but we do.”
“You don’t see people with blonde hair and blue eyes in these [modern detention] camps. No, you see brown people, you see Black people. You see people of color, just like you saw when we were in camps,” said Paul Tomita, who was 3-years old when he and his family were incarcerated in one of the WWII camps. “Just like what happened to us, you see laws and policies being put into place to discount people and their humanity. They don’t want us to work together and see these parallels, but we do.”
Even asking a question of the Homeland Security secretary merits arrest. The fact that all of these sentences refer to things that have happened to elected government officials is not irrelevant – it sends a message to everyone less powerful that they are not safe either.
California's US Senator Alex Padilla was roughly removed from a press conference and thrown tothe ground for attempting to question Homeland Seurity Secretary Krissti Noem.
"If this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine, what they’re doing to farm workers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” said Padilla after the incident.
After claiming that the administration wants to deport violent criminals who are in the US illegally, federal agents have moved on to schools, houses of worship, courtrooms and farms to meet a quota of 3000 arrests a day. In their sweeps, ICE, Homeland Security have acted with impunity, arresting or detaining US citizens, green card holders and foreign exchange students without explanation and hardly ever an "Opps, I'm sorry."
After claiming that the administration wants to deport violent criminals who are in the US illegally, federal agents have moved on to schools, houses of worship, courtrooms and farms to meet a quota of 3000 arrests a day. In their sweeps, ICE, Homeland Security have acted with impunity, arresting or detaining US citizens, green card holders and foreign exchange students without explanation and hardly ever an "Opps, I'm sorry."
The American Immigration Council report warns that while some policies may shift based on legal challenges in court, the administration’s broader agenda is clear: to permanently redefine who belongs in America, and how power is wielded by the federal government.
The Trump administration defends its tough immigration agenda by appealing to “the rule of law” and by appealing to white fears of losing their privileged status in US society. The last six months shows that Trump’s immigration policy may be the wedge that weakens America by dividing us and shredding American democracy as we know it.
The Trump administration defends its tough immigration agenda by appealing to “the rule of law” and by appealing to white fears of losing their privileged status in US society. The last six months shows that Trump’s immigration policy may be the wedge that weakens America by dividing us and shredding American democracy as we know it.
“The administration’s policies are reshaping the immigration system in ways that are unfair, unlawful, and out of step with core American values,” says Dara Lind, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council and co-author of the report. “We’re seeing real harm to families, communities, and the rule of law, and the public deserves to understand what’s at stake.”
“President Trump’s actions are ripping families apart and sending a chilling message that no one is safe—not even legal permanent residents who pay their taxes, contribute to the economy, and have called this country home for years," said the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in a statement. "For our community that is majority foreign-born, we know that this will inevitably put a target on the backs of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
“Every American should be deeply concerned. If we don’t speak up now, this administration will continue to trample over our constitutional rights and target individuals it disagrees with," the CAPAC statement continues. "Then, only one question will remain: Who will be next?
“We must take a stand to ensure we remain a nation of laws, not one ruled by a king.”
“President Trump’s actions are ripping families apart and sending a chilling message that no one is safe—not even legal permanent residents who pay their taxes, contribute to the economy, and have called this country home for years," said the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in a statement. "For our community that is majority foreign-born, we know that this will inevitably put a target on the backs of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
“Every American should be deeply concerned. If we don’t speak up now, this administration will continue to trample over our constitutional rights and target individuals it disagrees with," the CAPAC statement continues. "Then, only one question will remain: Who will be next?
“We must take a stand to ensure we remain a nation of laws, not one ruled by a king.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge. Now on BlueSky.
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