{"id":7412,"date":"2020-10-29T01:47:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T05:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=7412"},"modified":"2020-10-29T01:47:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T05:47:23","slug":"severed-families-raided-workplaces-and-a-climate-of-fear-assessing-trumps-immigration-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=7412","title":{"rendered":"Severed Families, Raided Workplaces and a Climate of Fear: Assessing Trump\u2019s Immigration Crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"
An undocumented immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 28 years shows a picture of her grandchild and son, who was deported under Trump\u2019s \u2018zero tolerance\u2019 policy in 2017. John Moore\/Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Donald Trump was on the defensive about his immigration policies in the final presidential debate, with a question about 545 migrant children taken by the U.S. government who may never be reunited with their parents<\/a>. Immigration authorities say they cannot find the children\u2019s families, many of whom have been deported to Central America.<\/p>\n

Taking children away from their families at the border was part of a broader strategy<\/a> aimed at discouraging immigrants from coming. The cruelty of the family-separation policy<\/a> traumatized migrant children<\/a> and spurred nationwide protests<\/a>. A federal judge ordered the government to reunite the separated families on June 26, 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, candidate Trump was on the offensive about enforcement, portraying immigration as a threat to American security. Trump laid out his platform in an Aug. 31, 2016, campaign speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This overview examines President Trump\u2019s record on three big promises made in that speech.<\/p>\n

#1: The ban<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c[I]mmigration will be suspended [from] places like Syria and Libya.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In a 2017 executive proclamation<\/a>, the Trump administration indefinitely barred immigrants from Iran, Syria, North Korea, Chad, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the U.S.<\/p>\n

The rule, a revised version of the \u201cMuslim ban<\/a>\u201d previously struck down as discriminatory, was upheld by the Supreme Court<\/a> in 2018. Though the specific countries included in the ban have changed since then<\/a>, the ban has dramatically limited immigration from several Muslim-majority countries.<\/p>\n

\"Man
After Trump\u2019s \u2018Muslim ban\u2019 went into effect, Americans flocked to airports to protest and offer legal aid.<\/span>
\nDavid McNew\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Immigrant visas to people from war-torn Yemen dropped<\/a> from over 1,000 per month in 2016 to less than 100 per month in 2018. Student and tourist visas from the banned countries also plummeted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration reduced refugee admissions<\/a> allowed into the U.S. by capping the number who may be resettled in the country at 15,000 in 2020, down from 85,000 in 2016<\/a>. This also disproportionately affected those from Muslim-majority regions.<\/p>\n

#2: Extreme enforcement<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAll immigration laws will be enforced.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This promise was, perhaps, doomed from the start.<\/p>\n

The federal government lacks capacity and popular support to fully enforce<\/a> U.S. immigration laws, which one federal court called \u201ca maze of hyper-technical statutes and regulations<\/a>.\u201d Doing so would also require surveillance and militarization that most Americans would find unacceptable.<\/p>\n

Under Trump, a system prioritizing the removal of people found guilty of a crime was replaced with instructions to deport \u201call removable aliens<\/a>,\u201d including those who had been allowed to stay in the U.S. by discretion of an immigration judge.<\/p>\n

To this end, the administration pledged to hire<\/a> an additional 10,000 enforcement agents. Hiring has fallen short<\/a> \u2013 both Border Patrol<\/a> and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement <\/a> have fewer agents now than they did in 2016.<\/p>\n

Two numbers that have grown under Trump are the number of child migrants held in state custody<\/a> and the daily total of immigrants imprisoned in prisonlike<\/a> detention centers. The U.S. detains more migrants than any other country<\/a>, a trend that has been growing since the Clinton administration. The daily average hit a historic peak of over 50,000 in October 2019<\/a>. That population has since declined during the pandemic.<\/p>\n