In his first few weeks in office, Donald Trump rolled out many anti-immigrant executive orders and policy shifts, including attacks on birthright citizenship, expansion of ICE-police collaborations and immigration detention, and the termination of protected status for multiple groups. Following this initial flood of actions, the Trump administration escalated its targeting of immigrant communities in an increasingly lawless manner, signaling creeping authoritarianism.
In this document, we attempt to summarize some of the key ways the Trump administration is shifting policies and practices to surveil, arrest, detain, deport, and silence immigrants and the people who support them. We do not name every shift; rather, we focus on the weaponization of the criminal legal system, the increasingly authoritarian approach, and the role of the federal budget, which are key tools of the Trump administration’s brutality and also vital sites of advocacy needed to stem the tide. Co-authored by Detention Watch Network, Immigrant Defense Project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and National Immigrant Justice Center.
Available in English.