United States Mass Deportations

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, otherwise known as ICE, has been patrolling the streets of America ever since the reinstitution of President Donald J. Trump. ICE’s ultimate goal is to deport as many illegal immigrants as it is tasked to do. A major cause of illegal immigration is the difficult living conditions people face in their home countries. Cities plagued by corruption (cartels, dictators, etc.), such as Culiacan, Mexico, or Caracas, Venezuela, plus the overall negative living conditions for individuals and families, such as poverty or unfair treatment from government officials, all contribute to illegal immigration. Legal migration is a slow and expensive process; some families don't have the time or money to suffer through the process, which is another leading cause of illegal immigration. Migration is beneficial to first-world nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom, as some immigrants come into the country looking for new opportunities. From construction, landscaping, agriculture, and manufacturing, many immigrants play a vital role in the economy, providing essential services that support communities and improve the daily lives of others. However, a portion of individuals who entered the country illegally have been involved in crimes, exploiting their opportunity to be in America, according to US Customs and Border Protection. According to AP News, as of March 2025, 238 Venezuelan gang members were deported from the United States to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador imprisoned them in the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a maximum-security prison designed to hold up to 40,000 inmates. This whole situation was disputed amongst the Supreme Court, but as of early April 2025, they gave President Trump the green light to resume deportations as long as they're given Judicial review, according to CBS News. 

Since January 2021, under the Biden Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has recorded 10 million border encounters. This represents a significant increase compared to the Trump Administration, which recorded 2.4 million encounters, and the Obama Administration, which totaled about 3.5 million encounters over eight years, all according to the BBC. ICE and former Border Patrol agent Tom Homan played a huge role in this mass deportation. Homan joined what was then called the Immigration and Naturalization Service, serving as a Border Patrol agent, investigator, and supervisor. In 2013, President Barack Obama appointed him as Immigration and Customs Enforcement's executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations. Fast forward to 2024, Tom Homan was appointed as President Trump’s border Czar, where he has pressured ICE to deport as many illegal immigrants as possible since Donald Trump and his administration reentered office.

Two significant changes have been made in the office in an attempt to help improve the deportation process. The first is​ the Laken Riley Act, a U.S. federal law enacted to improve immigration enforcement by detaining certain non U.S. nationals involved in criminal activities. Named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia who was murdered in 2024 by a Venezuelan immigrant with prior arrests, the law aims to prevent similar incidents by tightening immigration controls. The bill was first introduced by Senator Katie Britt on January 6, 2025. After Senate and House approval, President Trump signed the bill into law on January 29th. 

The second change is the end of birthright citizenship. The Trump Administration has taken steps to end birthright citizenship for certain individuals born in the United States. On January 20, 2025, an Executive Order was signed titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," which seeks to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the country under specific circumstances. For example, if the mother was illegally in the U.S. at the time of her baby’s birth, and the father was neither a U.S. citizen nor a permanent resident, then the baby will be denied US citizenship. This executive order contradicts the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause, which has granted citizenship to nearly all individuals born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents' immigration status. People view this order as unconstitutional, saying birthright citizenship would require a constitutional amendment. The Trump administration has been going back and forth with federal courts in an attempt to erase birthright citizenship under these conditions to help benefit the deportation process.

Overall, this shift in deportation is a major U-turn in comparison to how the situation has been handled over the last few years. At the end of the day, these people are human beings, and everything necessary should be executed in a lawful manner.

Luke SommervilleComment