Immigration experts warn that Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan could ruin U.S. citizen children’s lives, putting them in danger of losing their parents and suffering unnecessary trauma.
Mass deportation was a major aspect of Trump’s presidential campaign. Now, as president, he plans to carry out his promises of cracking down on immigration. He has even claimed he will declare a national emergency and utilize the military when in office to conduct his mass deportation. Following re-election, one of his first moves was to appoint Tom Homan as “border czar.” Homan is known for advocating for separating children from their parents to deter undocumented immigration and has promised to deport entire families under Trump. On top of that, Trump has vowed to end birthright citizenship and promised the biggest deportation in U.S. history.
Trump’s plans will destroy migrant communities, separate countless families, foster xenophobia and racism, and have a devastating impact on the economy. Experts have also begun to warn of the impact mass deportations will have on U.S. citizen children.
Immigration experts paint dark picture of Trump’s mass deportation plan
Trump’s immigration plans will be devastating for immigrants, but Americans also need to be aware that these measures will be detrimental to U.S.-born children of immigrants. Today, there are almost 20 million U.S.-born children with at least one immigrant parent. Over five million U.S. citizen children have an undocumented parent. These are children who are citizens by birthright, lived their wholes in America, and are part of your communities. Now, they are being faced with the possibility of losing their parents. Attorney Andrew Craycroft of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center told The Guardian:
These are millions of US citizen children who were born here, who have grown up going to your elementary schools and playing on your little league baseball teams, who are facing a very real danger of losing their parents
On top of that, Trump isn’t just threatening to rip these children away from their parents but to do so in the most violent, traumatic, and fear-inspiring way possible. While deportation of U.S. citizen children’s parents has been present in prior administrations, those like the Obama and Bush administrations at least took steps to lessen the trauma to children by barring ICE raids in certain places or requiring prior notification. Trump is expected to do the opposite. His border czar has confirmed his plan to create “shock and awe,” while Trump has advocated for “one really violent day” to crackdown on immigration. He’s not trying to lessen trauma but to escalate it. Center for Law and Social Policy’s Wendy Cervantes stated to The Guardian, “Under Trump, previously and in the future, deep harm to children is absolutely intentional and in many ways is the entire point.”
During his first presidency, Trump already separated thousands of foreign-born children and hundreds of U.S.-born children from their parents. Today, Cervantes notes many of these children are still suffering from the psychological effects of seeing “their parents being marched into white vans, handcuffed, as they were leaving school.” With Trump expressing interest in going after legal immigrants and ending birthright citizenship, even more U.S.-born children could be impacted by his plans this time around. There are lingering questions about how Trump will carry out his mass deportation plans and if he’ll be able to deport the hundreds of thousands of immigrants he envisions deporting. However, even those who aren’t deported or separated from their families will feel the toll of fearing for their lives and families daily.
As an undetermined amount of immigrants and U.S. citizen children are expected to be left in crisis by Trump’s deportation plans, one can only hope the devastation appeals to America’s humanity and sparks public pushback.
Published: Nov 22, 2024 01:26 pm