When Donald Trump campaigned on “mass deportations,” many voters waved away what that would look like in practice. Many bought Trump’s claim that he was going to deport “the worst of the worst” who, he alleged, were making America less safe.
But it is the administration’s own immigration agenda that’s making America less safe. This “mass deportations” program is inching America closer to authoritarianism, where rights are routinely violated— including those of American citizens.
Many may think that’s an exaggeration, and that Trump’s immigration crackdown is only impacting criminal illegal immigrants in favor of the safety of American citizens.
But Trump’s campaign claims of a broad “migrant crime wave” have no basis in reality. And now, the administration is largely deporting peaceful people, whose biggest offense might have been overstaying a visa or crossing the border at most. They are deporting few serious criminals, in part because there does not seem to be nearly as many immigrant criminals as the administration claims. This does nothing to make America safer.
In the frenzy to deport people massively and to meet internal targets, the administration is violating the rights of Americans as well.
Immigration checkpoints have long existed, but they’re increasing under Trump. In Washington, D.C., reports describe vehicles being stopped and screened for unlawful presence (they have to show their “papers” and prove they are citizens or otherwise here legally). The inconvenience this causes should be enough to upset Americans, let alone the fact that these are constitutionally dubious. But, importantly, the deployment of federal agents dressed in military fatigues, tactical vests, and often wearing face coverings, intimidate and scare people. Daycares and other businesses have closed due to fear of these agents.
That fear is justified.
As if having to prove to the government that one is a citizen and has a right to stand on American soil wasn’t enough of an encroachment, federal agents sometimes don’t care about the evidence and will harass and detain citizens anyway.
Such was the case for Julio Noriega, a U.S. citizen in Chicago who was approached by ICE agents in January, placed in handcuffs and thrown in a van, per his testimony. After 10 hours, agents realized he was a U.S. citizen and let him go, allegedly without documenting the arrest. Noriega’s attorneys claim that ICE fabricated warrants after the arrest.
In July, ICE and other federal agencies arrested U.S. citizen and veteran George Retes in Camarillo, California. Retes states he was going to work as a security guard when he encountered an ICE roadblock. Minutes later, agents broke his car window, pepper-sprayed him and detained him. Retes says he was held incommunicado for three days, was denied access to an attorney and was not presented to a judge.
Retes could prove that he was a U.S. citizen, but federal agents still proceeded with the arrest. “He had his ID, his driver’s license with him in the car. [The agents] didn’t seem interested,” said Marie Miller, Retes’ attorney, in an interview. Retes told agents about the ID when they had him tied up. Miller added that “nobody went and retrieved his ID. They didn’t seem to disbelieve him. They just seemed not to care.”
Agents didn’t care that Retes was a citizen because the federal government doesn’t care if they trample on Americans’ rights. A “mass deportations” agenda, by design, requires it: to meet internal targets, and to find the immigrants it wants to deport, the federal government has to meddle in the lives and businesses of Americans and subject them to government force. (Immigration regulations, more broadly, always restrict the rights of Americans by dictating who they can hire, trade and associate with.)
When the government violates the rights of Americans in this manner, it sends a message: individual freedoms depend on a bureaucrat’s whim, and the government will keep increasing its power over their lives and freedoms of Americans in order to pursue a maniacal immigration agenda.
Americans are less safe when federal agents roam the streets and ask for their papers. They are less safe when these agents claim the power to hold them for days without respecting their constitutional rights. They are less safe when agents wear face coverings, refuse to identify themselves and throw people into unmarked vehicles.
We should all be enraged by these practices and should withdraw whatever support is left of the administration’s immigration agenda. The irreparable damage inflicted on Americans and other peaceful individuals will be a stain in this great country’s history and must cease immediately. We can have a sensible policy that makes criminals face justice while respecting everyone’s rights. Protecting the safety of Americans never requires violating their rights.
Agustina Vergara Cid is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Follow her on X @Agustinavcid
