By: Scarlett Mora, Age 10
Since President Trump took office for a second time on Jan. 20, 2025, 200,000 people have been deported, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 100,000 people. ICE’s goal for the number of arrests per day is 3,000 people, according to the New York Times.
Some immigrant parents are keeping their kids from school because they are afraid that their children might get picked up by ICE while they are in class. Kids are also afraid of being deported by ICE without their parents. Some school principals are also worried about protecting their students. Many immigrant groups are targeted.
“It’s been like a nightmare,” Daria, 41, a Ukrainian immigrant, told NBC News. “We are scared and we feel uncertain of everything around us.”
Trump removed the humanitarian parole status for half a million immigrants from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and Haiti, according to Democracy Now! The Trump administration is threatening them to “self-deport” or face arrest. As Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said in a statement to Democracy Now!, the Department of Homeland Security “is tearing those lives apart, forcing families into chaos. … This is not policy—it is punishment.”
Some ICE officers have been tricking immigrants and arresting them even though they don’t have a criminal record. There have been many cases of ICE officers ambushing people at immigration courts around the country. Many arrests have been done by plainclothes officers—meaning officers without their uniforms on—who cover their face and refuse to reveal their name. For example, Dylan, a 20-year-old Venezuelan living in the Bronx, was arrested by plainclothes ICE officers even after judges dismissed his deportation case, according to Chalkbeat.
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On June 14, 4-6 million people gathered in the streets in “No Kings” protests across the country. They were protesting the far-right policies Trump has pursued since assuming office. “All of our rights are being violated,” Michelle Verne, 56, who marched in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times.
The protests in Los Angeles, where people protested for multiple days against immigration enforcement raids conducted in businesses, restaurants, and homes, resulted in violent suppression, with police shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters. Some cars and property were destroyed.
Trump responded by sending the National Guard to California without the governor or mayor’s consent, because people have been protesting him and how he is sending immigrant families back to their home countries even though they haven’t done anything wrong.
Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota responded to Trump’s actions by saying, “We are in the midst of the creation of a police state, where, you know, you have masked, armed men who are in plainclothes that are snatching people off the streets, unwilling to identify themselves. You have the military being deployed in our streets. My god, this is America. You have states’ rights being disregarded, so, you know, a constitutional crisis that’s being created in front of our eyes.”
Some U.S. citizens are willing to put themselves at risk to protect vulnerable immigrants. For example, according to Chalkbeat, in late January, a Manhattan principal told a concerned immigrant mother, “ICE is going to have to arrest me before they arrest your daughter.” He added that they would lock her daughter in his office, if needed. The mother was reassured and took her daughter to school.
The American Civil Liberties Union states that if ICE, police, or border agents come to your home, you should not open the door, but should speak to them through the closed door. If they have a warrant signed by a judge, they can slide that under the door or hold it to a window. They say to stay calm and have your citizenship or immigration documents ready. It is also a good idea to have a list of emergency contacts on hand, including children’s schools and a lawyer.
Arise Chicago, an immigrant advocacy group, is one group that is teaching immigrants what to do if ICE comes and tries to deport families and individuals, according to In These Times. The organization has been hosting in-person trainings, lessons, and protests on crisis plans for ICE since Trump took office. They held six trainings in January alone.
Arise Chicago wants to teach immigrants how to protect themselves and to be educated on their rights—and to not open the door if ICE comes knocking.
