close
close

Association-anemone

Bite-sized brilliance in every update

    • How would Trump’s deportation and DACA plans affect Wisconsin immigrants?
    asane

    How would Trump’s deportation and DACA plans affect Wisconsin immigrants?

    Online Niel Posted on

    Since Donald Trump was elected to a second term, Melissa Soberalski’s West Allis immigration law firm has received hundreds of calls and emails from clients worried about their future in the US.

    She wants to make sure people are prepared for the worst-case scenario, but she also wants to be realistic and not scare her customers unnecessarily. It is a difficult balance to achieve.

    Trump’s immigration plans are becoming more defined as he builds his administration. And it’s clear that undocumented people in Wisconsin could face deportation, even those without criminal convictions.

    This week, Trump named Stephen Milleran immigration activist as deputy chief of staff for policy. And Tom Homan, who led U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when families were separated during Trump’s first term, will oversee the northern and southern borders as “border czar.”

    Soberalski is concerned about why Miller’s stated plans to “turbocharge” a program to strip citizenship from certain immigrants speaks to the administration’s determination to carry out many of their policies.

    “If they’re going to start targeting that group, to me, that means it’s like no-holds-barred,” she said. – They will go after everyone.

    Erin Barbato, director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School, believes the second Trump administration is more prepared this time around and will deliver on its policy promises. That means organizations like the legal clinic are preparing themselves and their clients for what lies ahead.

    “It’s very terrifying, I think, for everyone involved in immigration and especially for some of the most vulnerable people in our country,” Barbato said. “It seems monumental now, what we’re preparing for.”

    More: ‘Everyone Deserves a Fair Chance’: A Conversation with Erin Barbato, Director of the UW Immigrant Justice Clinic

    What would mass deportation look like in Wisconsin?

    Mass deportation was a hallmark of Trump’s presidential campaign. But it is unclear to what extent large-scale deportations will be possible over the next four years.

    The financial and logistical challenges of carrying out a mass deportation effort are likely to be enormous, experts say. The estimated cost of a single mass deportation targeting the more than 13 million undocumented people in the country it would be at least $315 billionaccording to the American Board of Immigration. Furthermore, federal immigration agencies currently do not have the detention space or manpower for such an operation and would need to expand substantially.

    Trump said his plan was “priceless.”

    Much is still unknown about how the policy will be implemented — even Sen. Ron Johnson said: a the national grid is unrealistic — but reports indicate migrants considered threats and those convicted of crimes will be first priority for deportationand that workplace raids are likely.

    At the beginning of this year, Homan said: “No one is at the table. If you’re here illegally, you’d better look over your shoulder.”

    Trump and advisers they suggested deploying the National Guard and local Trump-friendly police departments to make arrests and run detention camps, even sending them to uncooperative states.

    After the election, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, cast doubt on that likelihood, saying, “I think most governors of either party don’t want to see” National Guard troops from one state to another.

    The Biden administration has generally deported people convicted of serious crimes, but has not prioritized large workplace raids and people with no criminal records, Soberalski said.

    Deportations were high during the first Trump administration, sometimes sweeping up people who were never charged or convicted of a crime, Soberalski said. Workplace raids are expected to be a priority of the new administration.

    “Sometimes those raids would take place at restaurants, local diners, car washes, and they had a crippling effect on some of those local businesses,” Soberalski said of previous deportation operations. “Suddenly, all the labor is gone.”

    Even though Wisconsin’s Democratic governor and attorney general oppose mobilizing the state’s National Guard troops and police officers for a mass deportation effort, undocumented Wisconsin residents are not immune from deportation.

    Both Immigration and Customs Enforcement — known as ICE — and Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, can make deportation arrests in southeastern Wisconsin, even if local law enforcement refuses to help. One reason: CBP is permitted by law to board vehicles and vessels without warrants to search for undocumented people within 100 miles of a border, which includes the coasts of the Great Lakes.

    Addition, in about seven counties in Wisconsinincluding Waukesha, ICE agreements give local enforcement authorities the authority to detain people or even act as immigration officers.

    Can undocumented immigrants be quickly deported without a hearing?

    In general, people who are picked up for deportation are owed due process of law. They can stay in the U.S. while they wait for immigration judges to hear their cases, which can take years because the courts are backlogged.

    Trump advisers have indicated he may try to expand the use of a process called “expedited removal,” which would try to quickly deport people en masse, bypassing the court system.

    Expedited removal was generally used for people near the border and for people in the US under two years of age. But Trump’s goal of expanding its use inside the US is likely to face legal challenges, Barbato said.

    What is the future of DACA, asylum, refugee resettlement?

    Trump’s first administration unsuccessfully attempted to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which allows young adults who came to the US as children to stay and work here. His team has indicated it will try again to end the program, and a lawsuit against DACA is likely to reach the Supreme Court next term.

    Soberalski and Barbato urge DACA recipients — also known as Dreamers — to renew their status immediately if it expires in 2025. That way, they’ll have a work authorization card for the next two years.

    DACA recipients should talk to their attorneys about other avenues they can take, Barbato said.

    Trump and his advisers have also promoted a number of other immigration policies, including:

    • Restarting a program requiring migrants to wait for asylum hearings in Mexico;
    • Using Title 42, a public health rule in place during the pandemic, to turn away migrants at the border on the grounds that they would bring contagious diseases;
    • Suspending refugee resettlement, which was drastically reduced during the first Trump administration;
    • Interrupting or adding blockages to certain legal immigration pathwayssuch as family and work visa categories that are particularly delayed, such as green card applications for highly skilled Indian workers;
    • Reviving the US travel ban from certain Muslim-majority countries.

    There is also continued uncertainty over whether Afghans and Ukrainians who have come to the U.S. under special humanitarian programs over the past three years will receive a path to permanent residency.

    Legal challenges to several of these proposals are likely, as well as pushback from businesses and technology firms that rely on immigrant workers.

    Deporting undocumented workers en masse would have a huge economic impact, the American Immigration Council argues, including a reduction in tax revenues, Social Security contributions and gross domestic product.

    “Mass deportations would cause significant labor shocks in several key industries, with particularly acute impacts on construction, agriculture and the hospitality sector. We estimate that almost 14% of people employed in the construction industry are undocumented,” a costings report said. mass deportation from the American Immigration Council, which is a pro-immigration think tank. “Eliminating this workforce would disrupt all forms of construction across the country, from homes to businesses to basic infrastructure.”

    What should they do to prepare?

    Soberalski recommended several steps that immigrants concerned about their future can take:

    • Find reliable legal advice and find out what your options are.
    • Make a preparedness plan in case someone in your family has to leave, addressing issues such as childcare, finances and power of attorney;
    • Know your rights if you are stopped. Carry any legal immigration documents with you, but do not carry false identification documents.

    Online Niel
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like