Since the beginning of Trump’s administration in January, thousands of undocumented Latinos have been deported back to their home countries as part of new ICE initiatives encouraged by Trump. This has forced many people to go into hiding, afraid of the chance of being deported.
Latino and immigrant communities across the country have been protesting against ICE raids. This is to advocate for the protection of immigrant communities and to enlighten the aggressive tactics of ICE raids, according to the American Immigration Council.
“I think the ICE raids and mass deportation have created an environment of fear and disruption— which I think is unhealthy,” sophomore Isabel Schmidt said. “Trump has branded all illegal immigrants as criminals, which is false and unfair,”
These protests have been organized by local community groups and immigrants rights advocates throughout the country. These protests are purposely taking place in areas of high populations of undocumented immigrants to advocate the safety and well-being of their neighbors, friends and family members, according to the American Immigration Council.
“I feel bad for all of the people affected by these events,” sophomore Alexandra Herrmann said. “I especially sympathize with the innocent children who are unjustly brought into the middle of such a heated political issue,”
These protests have caught the interest of students who are immigrants or have immigrant families across the nation. For instance, this past Monday there was a nationwide strike where immigrants and families of immigrants didn’t show up for school or work to show how important the Latino and immigrant communities are to the workforce of the country, according to edsource.
These advocates are not only advocating for the safeties of families and loved ones during this time but how these mass deportations should be handled in the future. Many argue that the U.S. needs to move beyond enforcement based approaches and consider more humane and long term solutions. This can include providing easier and less time consuming pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, reforming the detention system and protecting immigrant rights at every level of government,according to Pew Research Center.
“These raids and mass deportations break apart families and may spread discriminatory actions against all immigrants,” Schmidt said, “It is hard to believe a country founded by immigrants could treat immigrants in this manner.”
