By Steven Flagg
Guest Column
Many of us saw this coming. All you had to do was believe Donald Trump—if not the man, then the message. During his most recent presidential run, he made immigration the centerpiece of his campaign.
Some dismissed it as bluster meant to drive a better trade deal or target dangerous criminals. But now, with ICE raids in schools, churches, meatpacking plants and Home Depots, and the federalization of the California National Guard, the results are clear: this is not targeted enforcement. It’s mass punishment, especially if you live in a blue state.
Communities across the country—especially those with large immigrant populations— are living in fear. Parents are arrested at school drop-offs. Day laborers are seized outside home improvement stores. Churches are no longer sanctuaries. Families are torn apart, often leaving U.S.-citizen children behind to navigate the trauma and uncertainty alone.
Undocumented immigrants are being deported for what amounts to a Class B misdemeanor—a first-time illegal entry punishable by up to six months in jail and a $250 fine. In reality, many of these individuals have lived in the U.S. for over a decade, working, paying taxes and raising children who are American citizens. They are our co workers, neighbors, small business owners, and students.
Yet the Trump administration is treating them like enemies of the state. Even Dreamers—the 1.0 to 1.2 million undocumented immigrants brought here as children—remain in legal limbo. Only about 580,000 currently benefit from DACA protections due to court-imposed restrictions.
These young people are American in every way but legal status. Many speak only English, know no other country, and contribute significantly to our economy and communities. And still, the message from Trump’s DHS is clear: no one is safe.
The numbers tell the story. As of 2022, there were an estimated 850,000 undocumented children and 4.4 million U.S.-born children living in mixed-status households. That’s over six million children directly affected by immigration enforcement. So much for the GOP’s professed family values.
Border enforcement is necessary, but what’s unfolding isn’t enforcement—it’s escalation without accountability. Yet instead of policy solutions, we get political spectacle. At a June press conference in Los Angeles, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem declared: “We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country.” Liberate? From whom?
Governor Gavin Newsom was re-elected in 2022 with 59.2 percent of the vote, and he defeated a recall effort the year prior with nearly 62 percent support. Mayor Karen Bass was elected the same year with 54.8 percent. This isn’t tyranny, it’s democracy.
Noem’s language is more than rhetorical flourish; it’s a signal. Trump’s team appears determined to provoke a confrontation that could justify federal military intervention. The Insurrection Act, which Trump has long flirted with invoking, looms over these developments. Meanwhile, red-state protests in places like Atlanta and Austin are ignored, while blue-state cities face troop deployments and mass arrests.
Immigration enforcement has become a political weapon. The authoritarian drift was on full display when Senator Alex Padilla was handcuffed and dragged out of that same Los Angeles press event after questioning Secretary Noem’s remarks.
“If it can happen to me in that setting,” Padilla said afterward, “imagine what they’re doing to people all around the country.” This isn’t hyperbole. This is what happens when dissent is treated as disorder.
Ironically, the president’s own actions reveal the essential role undocumented immigrants play. In mid-June, his administration paused immigration raids on farms, food-processing plants, hotels and restaurants—sectors that depend heavily on immigrant workers. The rationale? These businesses are vital. Translation: Republican donors complained. When deportation threatens profits, ideology bows to convenience.
Indeed, undocumented immigrants contribute nearly $90 billion in taxes each year, including over $40 billion in payroll taxes that help fund Social Security and Medicare— benefits they’re not even eligible to receive.
They are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans and represent nearly five percent of the U.S. workforce, filling jobs that citizens often won’t. Despite the fearmongering, Americans are paying attention. In early June a Quinnipiac University poll showed only 43 percent of voters approve of Trump’s immigration policy, which has had a double-digit drop since January, while 54 percent disapprove.
The country may support border enforcement, but it does not support xenophobic purges. Immigration reform requires compassion, pragmatism, and courage—not cruelty. Most undocumented immigrants are here for the same reasons our ancestors came: to work, to live in peace, to build something better for their children. Instead of militarizing their neighborhoods, we should be modernizing our immigration laws—offering paths to legal status for necessary workers and citizenship for those who’ve earned it.
Trump may claim a mandate, but his actions suggest something else entirely: fear, not policy, is driving the agenda. And fear, when unfettered, will run amok.