Starting a few days into his second term, President Donald Trump has begun introducing a series of radical immigration policies aimed at comprehensively increasing deportations of illegal immigrants. Policies of this kind have sparked widespread controversy and concern among various communities and industries in the United States.
In the second week of his term bizarrely, President Trump has asked to determine appropriate targets for immigration authorities on a daily basis, setting their goal at up to 1,500 apprehensions of illegal aliens. These orders represent a substantial increase over former figures: In the first week of his term, 2,382 arrests; and 1,797 warrants were issued.
The Administration also extended from the nation’s borders inland, the policy known as “expedited removal.” Now, if they have not resided in the United States continuously for at least two years mine officials can deport individuals without going through a court hearing at all. This new policy will have effect nationally, whereas previously it had been limited to people detained less than 100 miles from a border.BBC
The measures for intensifying deportation have caused panic among immigrants. Previously secure groups now live in fear of being ousted from the United States and separated from their families. Many Latina voters who had supported Trump felt distressed when learning that their families now faced expulsion, emphasizing the fact that it is individuals who pay the price for these policies.
Economists are worried that this large-scale deportation strategy may adversely affect the US economy. Undocumented immigrants contribute to numerous labor-intensive activities such as agriculture and construction. If we take 7.6 million undocumented workers, each of whom earns $375 billion and contributes substantial tax revenues — one out of every ten adults in this country — our economy would experience labor shortages, rising operating expenses, and eventually disturbances to its progress.
There have been challenges to President Trump’s policies from the courts and also, internationally. Urban extension of “expedited removal” has been found unconstitutional in court cases: advocates argue that this measure reduces citizens’ legal protection. Globally too the US has faced opposition. Colombia, for instance, at first refused to accept back their people who were deported by President Trump. After the US Leader threatened sanctions, however, Colombia did agree to take all deportees. These cases illustrate how American immigration policy will be affected elsewhere in the World.
Attitudes of the public to the Administration´s ‘Hunt for the Innocents’ has been varied. Some of the media, such as Sunny Hostin from TV’s ‘The View’, have criticized these policies on grounds of racial discrimination: they are seen to target disproportionately Mexicans while forgetting all other groups completely. Hostin has come down hard on army involvement with immigration enforcement and has cited many cases of racial profiling she herself was witness to.
President Trump’s latest immigrant policies may be seen as reflecting a major shift into strict enforcement and mass deportation. Compelled by public security and public welfare, while the administration says these measures are necessary, they have given rise to such problems so universal in nature as human rights and international relations. It will be years before we see just what sort of effect these policies really have–influenced not only by legal challenge but also public opinion and the broader political climate.
