The American Council of Immigration does not approve or oppose candidates for elected offices. We aim to provide an analysis of the impact of elections on the US immigration system.
As we approach the new Trump administration’s one month mark, the thinly covered threat of imposing massive deportation on the president’s “criminal immigrants” is actually targeted by all immigrants, sometimes even US citizens. It is clear that this is a promise to do so.
In the first few weeks, we have already seen illegal immigrant arrests of people with US passports, including New Jersey veterans, Navajo Native Americans and others in Puerto Rico. There have been reports that sweep of immigrants with legal status poses absolutely no threat to public safety, including the shipment of Venezuelans without a criminal record to Guantanamo Bay. A DACA Miami middle school teacher faced the possibility of arrests and deportation. Faith leaders spoke about American immigrants and customs enforcement agents appearing at the doors of the church. These anecdotes and experiences from the first weeks of Trump’s second term highlight the indiscriminate nature of the administration’s immigration regime and the drastic Enforcement Bureau’s attempts.
The outcome of the deportation agenda, which anyone can target, is a calm effect. The threat of aggressive immigration enforcement itself places fear on immigrants and minority communities. They are scared to leave their home, go to work or go to school, as these daily activities can end with the detention and deportation of themselves or their loved ones. School districts like Texas are forced to send letters to students and parents, warning that ice could appear on morning school buses. And when ICE uses blackmail stunts, such as posting sinister photos suspected of being “criminal immigrants,” publishing the attacks, or using the military to expel people, fear is set in theaters. But it hurts the local community and its economy.
California citrus farmers, like farmers in Florida, New York and Iowa, were afraid to come out to work. Several people tucked into the attic when Ice threatened enforcement in Chicago. In states like Texas, where undocumented people represent around 50% of the construction industry’s workforce, this calm effect will reverberate local housing costs and the economy. This means that 11 million undocumented people living in the US have deep connections with their communities with their beloved US children and partners, including key sectors of the labor market, including agriculture, construction and healthcare. Plus, it’s not surprising.
It doesn’t matter whether Ice hit an arrest “quota” or “target”, but the damage is already working. President Trump has set a target of about 1,000 arrests per day for immigration enforcement agencies. His administration was unable to meet last week. But using immigration enforcement to score political points and adopt a terrifying PR strategy means that people are not yet showing up in our country and economy, which hurts us all.
Indiscriminate arrests also waste billions of taxpayer dollars and indeed undermines our safety. In a recent report, the average cost per mass immigrant arrest was $6,653, similar to what we see under Trump. Our estimates show that simply transporting a person from the location of their arrest to the nearest ice chamber would cost an additional $3,745.
To meet these costs, President Trump redirects law enforcement resources from key priorities such as drug trafficking, terrorism and fighting child sex crimes, and arrests people who instead pose no threats and focuses on deportation. For example, Trump usually investigates online child sex abuse materials and makes it a “major mission” to investigate immigration law crimes, in order to combat cross-border criminal organizations. We ordered a Security Investigation (HSI). We have seen this redirection of important public safety resources previously. Trump’s Zero Tolerance Policy in 2018 led to family separation at the border, but other cases had to be dropped to focus on immigrants claiming on misdemeanors. The result was a plunge in prosecutions for drug trafficking at the border.
Now, President Trump shows he thinks Ice arrests are too few and often, so he works with Congress to burn this massive deportation agenda from $175 to $200 billion I’m looking for additional dollars. The request is six times the already historically high funding level of around $30 billion for ice and CBP. If Congress approves these unprecedented dollars, we can ensure that indiscriminate arrests of American citizens and those who do not pose a threat to public safety will continue at the expense of safety and security.
Submitted below: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump Administration
