I’ve struggled to make sense of the news lately. The systemic, administration-led violence against immigrants has resulted in thousands of families torn apart, funneled into dehumanizing detention centers, all in the name of “law and order.” President Trump made his promises of mass deportations abundantly clear during his electoral campaign, but never could I have imagined the extent of his administration’s cruelty in carrying out his agenda.
Since Trump took office, his administration has deported roughly 230,000 people inside the country and 270,000 at the border. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has been at the forefront of these deportations. Before 2025, most deportations occurred privately, largely through cooperations with local jails and courts. Now, ICE raids neighborhoods openly — forcefully dragging individuals from streets, courthouses, homes, schools and workplaces all the way to detention centers. This means federal agents are entering into neighborhoods and seizing people who are restaurant owners, security workers, next-door neighbors — hard-working people whom residents have known their whole lives.
Even more grotesquely, the administration has publicized many of these occurrences on social media with edits and action music, transforming human suffering into a sick source of propaganda and entertainment. Since coming into office, Trump has expanded ICE’s budget to $85 billion dollars, making ICE the highest-funded law enforcement authority in the country. Their newly expanded authority has only empowered masked officers to carry out operations with increasing force. Horrifyingly, concealment removes any accountability and transparency for law enforcement. The lack of identification, the aggression and the targeting of once peaceful locations make it abundantly clear that these raids are not about maintaining safety. They are designed to disrupt and humiliate communities, and to warn residents that they are being watched.
Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), frequently labels arrested individuals as “terrorists” and “dirt bags,” panning cameras over them in prisons and flipping through mugshots in her social media accounts. Disturbingly, the reality remains that about half of the individuals deported and more than 70% of people in ICE detention centers have no criminal charges. Their only so-called crime may have been being born into instability and poverty, often in the same regions that have been destabilized by U.S. foreign policy. To put such a complicated process in a nutshell, immigrating to the United States legally requires extensive time, financial resources and connections — many unfeasible things to obtain for the direst of situations. Many parents bring their families to the United States for a mere chance to provide a future they never had to their children — a labor of love that my mom herself pushed through 15 years ago.
The administration insists ICE’s actions are “protecting” the country, but the people most affected are fathers and sons, sisters and friends — vital parts of the community and country. Many individuals are often arrested while complying with immigration requirements, often for routine checks or court appearances. Some individuals, including legal permanent residents, are deported on the basis of petty crimes, like marijuana possession in university. Humans, flawless or not, at the bare minimum deserve basic dignity. No human deserves to be shoved into an unmarked vehicle, ripped away from their worlds and plunged into an unknown detention system. How can destroying dignity ever improve the country?
Once ICE detains an individual, immigration lawyers report that it can take days for families to locate them. Some reportedly stay there for months. Within these facilities, individuals can also face inhumane and degrading conditions. Many detainees, including green card holders and refugees, never received any notice with the reason for their detainment. These people felt like they were “kidnapped.” Upon arrival, some individuals describe being strip-searched, forced to use bathrooms in front of others and denied basic privacy and medical needs. Some women even reported being unable to shower during their period, without any access to pads. Imagine the horror of having a parent or friend suddenly vanish, only to later learn they are being held in these conditions, without contact and answers.
Even children suffer tremendously in these centers. Families recalled being given inedible food, such as moldy vegetables with worms. Children even began to face regressions in behavior, such as violence, sadness and nightmares due to the present conditions. The DHS even tried to require lawmakers to provide advanced notice before inspecting immigration detention facilities. It’s difficult to understand why such transparency would be a threat to ICE’s operations.
In March and April, 252 Venezuelan men who were deported were sent to the “Terrorism Confinement Center” in El Salvador — another example of the tremendous cruelty of detainment centers. These men faced little to no due process; in fact, news agencies found only 13% had serious criminal accusations. Many believed they were being sent back to Venezuela, but soon they were forcibly transported to the prison — a transfer filmed and edited like an action film. After being released in July, 40 men described brutal conditions, including being mocked by medics, forced to drink dirty water and spending 24 hours under strong lights. They reported beatings and sexual assault. Today, many individuals remain traumatized, hospitalized and trapped once again in the conditions they tried to escape. One man stated his reason for migrating was to buy a house and give his daughter a better education that he didn’t have, never understanding why he was in a prison for terrorists.
Amid all of these actions, ICE agents face virtually no accountability, even when they are responsible for people’s deaths. On Jan. 7, an ICE officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good. The Trump administration alleged that Good was “disrespectful” to immigration enforcement, yet forensic analysis of visible footage of the incident showed that Good — at worst — mildly obstructed enforcement and disobeyed unclear orders, none of which legitimize detainment, let alone capital punishment. The worst part? The administration framed Good’s death as a patriotic duty, a symbol of the glory that ICE was returning to American cities. After the killing, Vice President JD Vance even said that ICE officials are protected by absolute immunity. A loss of human life came with no regret, remorse or any semblance of basic empathy. Good left behind heartbroken parents, a partner and children. Only after finding out her father was a "tremendous fan,” Trump shared regrets over her shooting, stating that ICE officials are going to be “too rough” at times. I find it horrifying how a leader can label individuals as either “responsible” or “justified” depending on the political affiliation of said individual, aggressively defending one distorted version of the truth without further investigation. Almost as if we regressed into a dystopia, people are either criminal immigrants and radical communists who deserve the violence that happens to them, or they are heroes incapable of making mistakes.
On Jan. 24, this phenomenon only continued with the recent killing of 37-year-old Alex Jeffery Pretti, a registered nurse, U.S. citizen and devoted friend to many. ICE agents shot him down with at least 10 firings after he held up his phone to protect a protestor from pepper spray. ICE agents alleged he held a handgun, while Noem shortly stated that Pretti likely intended to kill federal officers with no provided proof. After his death, neighbors recalled his kindness and passion for helping his patients. Colleagues remembered how he loved to bike on trails and spend time with his dog, Joule. Pretti’s parents, Susan and Michael, stated that Pretti wanted to make a difference in this world. Just like with Good, ICE crushed Pretti’s future in a matter of seconds.
Minneapolis has since faced a surge in ICE presence, whose agents are disproportionately targeting primarily Somali communities (including mostly individuals who legally arrived in the United States). Residents have faced warrantless raids, chemical irritants and physical violence. Only recently, federal agents dragged U.S. citizen Aliya Rahman and arrested her on accounts of being an “agitator” who was obstructing immigration operations; however, she was simply trying to get to a doctor’s appointment at the Traumatic Brain Injury Center. ICE officers even used tear gas on a vehicle with a family inside who was heading home from their child’s basketball game. In cities across the United States, local law enforcement officials have criticized ICE for its aggression and lack of clarity on arrests.
ICE’s deliberate targets in diverse, sanctuary cities are displays of radicalized power. If all of these actions weren’t egregious enough, the immigrants targeted clearly suggest a racist foundation. In December, Trump openly announced in a rally that there will be a permanent pause on Third World migration from “hellholes” like Afghanistan, Haiti and Somalia. Trump even noted how he wants immigrants from places like Sweden and Norway. So again I wonder, what is ICE trying to do? Make the country cleaner? Cleaner of crime or of the humans the administration hates?
I wish I could offer something new in this article. However, these facts are very much open to the public. They are documented, yet nearly half of Americans don’t find severe fault in ICE’s actions; 31% believe ICE makes communities, while 18% believe ICE does not significantly alter safety. That, more than anything, terrifies me.
To be as utterly explicit as one can be, I am sick. I am sick of watching people stripped of their humanity while the administration and its supporters sit comfortably, redirecting their frustration toward those who had no hand in their suffering. I am sick of the government taking advantage of its followers through its one-sided media. I am sick of hearing morality reduced to a hollow refrain of “just come here legally,” as if legality has ever been equally accessible to all.
I am an immigrant, a label once a source of pride, but now of fear. I was naturalized just two years ago, during the final year of the Biden administration. It frightens me to think that if my mom had arrived slightly later, our residency process would unfold under Trump’s administration, giving no guarantee of my current status or residence. My mom’s hard work and her incredibly fortunate timing are the reasons I have had the privilege to grow up in the American school system and even attend Hopkins. I would not have the future I hold, the one I am endlessly grateful for, if she lacked the courage to begin a 13-year process of naturalization. That future should never be granted as a matter of luck or timing; everyone deserves the chance to build a life with dignity and safety.
These brutalities are not happening in some distant place we can simply dismiss as politically “backward.” They are happening in the United States — our so-called developed, first-world country. To support this system is not to take a “political stance,” it is to accept cover-ups and dehumanization as tools of governance fueled by fear and hatred. ICE and the Trump administration bear the blood from the suffering of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, the hundreds of wounded protestors and the thousands of locked-up immigrants; this is nothing short of a domestic humanitarian crisis. The first step to change is for all of us to confront that truth.
Myra Saeed is a sophomore majoring in Chemistry and History from Queens, N.Y. She is a News & Features Editor for The News-Letter.
