As the dispute over DACA simmers in Congress, an immigration crisis of a different kind rages unabated as federal agents have quietly begun stepping up immigration enforcement by targeting businesses believed to hire undocumented immigrants, according to Newsweek.
In addition to heightened efforts by the Trump administration to round up undocumented immigrants across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched raids on more than 100 7-Eleven stores nationwide. According to Newsweek, this is the largest immigration enforcement activity undertaken since Trump became president and ICE has signaled that this is just the beginning of an even larger operation.
This comes on the heels of a Congress that is unable to reach an…show more content… Trump's orders shadow those of disgraced Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio was convicted for failing to obey a court order forbidding the controversial sheriff from arbitrarily targeting individuals as possible illegal immigrants. Arpaio was recently pardoned by Trump.
A group of protesters demonstrates against President Donald Trump's stance against immigration.
While most of the focus is on the fate of DACA, there is a much larger group of people who will be adversely affected by Trump-era immigration policies. The so-called DREAMers are individuals who were illegally brought into the United States as infants or young minors by their parents. DREAMer is the name given to those who would have had protection under the now-defunct Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The bill would have provided protection from deportation similar to DACA, but it died in Congress back in 2001.
Although DREAMers are technically considered to be an illegal presence under federal law, they have spent most of their lives in the U.S. and know little or nothing about their countries of origin. While DACA recipients still enjoy at least a temporary respite from deportation, DREAMers face deportation by authorities at any…show more content… There are an estimated 3.6 million DREAMers in the United States, according to USA Today.
Since the Trump administration began its war on illegal immigration, the crackdown has left many migrant communities paralyzed with fear. One notable incident occurred when ICE agents descended on on Las Cruces, New Mexico in February of 2017. The New Yorker reported that just a few weeks after Trump authorized ICE to begin arresting undocumented migrants, federal agents raided a trailer park near to town.
The raid led to more than 2,000 students missing school for two days, in fear that they would be detained.
Another casualty of Trump's immigration policies are the so-called "safe zones." Prior to the Trump administration, areas such as hospitals and places of worship were considered off-limits to enforcement actions. All of that changed when ICE agents arrested a 10-year-old girl, suffering from cerebral palsy, following surgery at a Texas hospital as reported by The
