The Biden administration miscalculated by not addressing immigration head-on, thinking it would fade away. They clung to Trump-era policies like Title 42, which led to counterproductive effects and spiraling border control issues. Additionally, they failed to counter Texas Governor Greg Abbott's busing of migrants, which politically backfired.
The consequences include immense suffering and upheaval, even if the ambitious deportation targets are not met. The aim is to create a sense of terror through harsh enforcement, including arrests in sensitive locations like schools and hospitals, and potential racial profiling.
The Biden administration used humanitarian parole extensively to manage the border situation, allowing over a million people to enter legally for two years. However, this temporary status leaves these individuals vulnerable once their permits expire, as there is no legislative pathway to permanent status.
Stephen Miller was a key architect of harsh immigration policies, including family separation at the border. He aimed to punish asylum seekers and deter others from coming, leading to some of the most upsetting aspects of the first Trump administration's immigration enforcement.
Operation Wetback during the Eisenhower administration is the only precedent for large-scale deportations, involving over a million people. This operation, however, was marred by racial profiling and the deportation of U.S. citizens, leaving a dark mark on the administration's record.
Without institutional resistance, the second Trump term could see more unfettered and harsh immigration enforcement, including increased racial profiling, workplace raids, and potential assaults on programs like DACA. The Department of Justice and Homeland Security may collaborate more closely to prosecute non-compliant jurisdictions.
The Postville Raid, the largest workplace enforcement operation until the first Trump administration, had measurable negative health impacts on the local Latino community, including lower birth weights among children born after the raid due to heightened maternal stress and anxiety.
Immigration has been the cornerstone of Donald Trump’s political career, and in his second successful Presidential campaign he promised to execute the largest deportation in history. Stephen Miller, Trump’s key advisor on hard-line immigration policy, said that the incoming Administration would “unleash the vast arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown,” possibly involving the use of the military. “I do think they’re going to strain the outer limits of the law on that,” the staff writer Jonathan Blitzer) tells David Remnick. “We’re entering unprecedented territory.” Blitzer unpacks some of the anti-immigrant rhetoric, and explains measures that the new Administration is likely to take. “I.C.E. has a policy that discourages arrests at schools, hospitals, places of worship, courts,” he says. That policy can change and, he believes, will. “You’re going to see arrest operations in very scary and upsetting places.” The aim, he thinks, will be “to create a sense of terror. That is going to be the modus operandi of the Administration.” Blitzer is the author of “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here),” a definitive account of the immigration crisis.