The Situation
The United States in 2025 undertook a renewed immigration enforcement effort under President Trump (Wikipedia, 2025). The President said that the effort targets the “worst of the worst” (Uribe, 2025), violent criminals and gang members, to deport them, thus making our country safer and our border tighter.
The enforcement efforts have been strenuous, violent, and far-reaching, and President Trump signals his approval by saying that they “haven’t gone far enough” (Chasan, 2025). This would seem to indicate that things are going according to a plan which should be continued.
Characterizing the enforcement efforts over the past year, we can say the following:
- Worst of the Worst: Despite the President’s desire to target violent criminals and gang members, many persons targeted and detained by ICE have no criminal record whatsoever (about a third)—and only a few percent have violent criminal convictions (7% or less). The data shows that the more strenuous the crackdown, the lower the percentage of violent criminals apprehended (Sun, 2025).
- Treatment of Detainees: The campaign has been characterized by violence, with many people physically assaulted and injured by ICE agents (Schiff, 2025)(Kile, 2025). There have been several deaths of suspects in immigration detention (Llanos, 2025).
- Treatment of Children: Children have been targeted, separated from their parents, and held in zip ties for prolonged periods (Baio, 2025).
- Treatment of Pregnant Women: The ACLU has documented multiple cases where the treatment of detained pregnant women has included things from denial of prenatal vitamins all the way up to miscarriages as a result of medical care denied or delayed (Strum, 2025).
- Medical Care: Denial or delay of medical care seems to be common, applying not only to pregnant women but to individuals injured by ICE agents themselves (Schiff, 2025).
- Family separations: Families are routinely separated by enforcement agents, resulting, for example, in children—even newborns—left without parents after immigration actions (Riess, 2025).
- Targeting scope: Rather than targeting violent undocumented immigrants—or even focusing on immigrants in violation of some law—the enforcement actions have resulted in the detention and even the deportation of American citizens (Wikipedia, 2025) and people following the law on a path to legal immigration (Uribe, 2025). People are sometimes targeted racially rather than by immigration status, resulting in more citizens being affected, especially Hispanic or Native American citizens, or citizens with darker skin tones (Wikipedia, 2025).
In addition to the enforcement itself, there are a few other notable aspects of immigration policy:
The usual modern meaning of the word “deportation” (Wikipedia, 2025) has been changed from merely repatriating people to their native lands, to, conversely, sending people to countries unknown to them, for extended or permanent detention rather than liberty (Montoya-Galvez, 2025).
Also, the fifth and fourteenth amendment rights to due process (US Constitution, 1791)(US Constitution, 1868) have been routinely denied people suspected of being in the country without proper documentation (Bryant, 2025), resulting in their being deprived of liberty (and property) without due process of the law.
The overall tone of the enforcement policies seems to be intentionally dark, in part to send a message to immigrants that they are not welcome in our country and should “self-deport” (Bustillo, 2025)(Jansen, 2025).
The Disagreement
First, I readily agree with President Trump that the worst of the worst—the violent criminals, the gang members—who are undocumented immigrants should be identified, detained, and deported, leading to a safer country with tighter borders, and I applaud his statements and efforts to bring this outcome about.
I disagree with President Trump, however, about about taking ordinary residents instead of the worst-of-worst. Immigrants—even undocumented—barring criminal tendencies, are overwhelmingly a taxpaying, socially contributing asset to our communities. They may be essential workers, upstanding residents of our communities, or otherwise beneficial to our country—and should not be targeted absent some compelling reason stemming from their behavior.
I disagree with President Trump about ICE not going far enough given its violent tactics and brutal treatment of detainees, and about detention centers denying fundamental rights to detainees. Ice—and the United States—should treat people with respect, not violence, wherever possible—and it’s almost universally possible, given that the current violent approach represents a change from previous approaches.
I disagree with President Trump about ICE’s treatment of children, who should be neither separated from their families nor zip-tied. Children should never be handled violently. Children, like everyone, should be treated with as much respect as can be afforded.
As concerning the President’s views that ICE has not gone far enough, in view of detainee medical care being denied or delayed, I disagree with President Trump. Detainees must need depend on the government for their health care, and the government takes on the responsibility to provide it when detaining someone. The health care should be top-tier, given just as one would like to receive.
I disagree with President Trump’s policy on separating families. I believe, rather, that strong families make strong communities, and a family should never be separated without compelling reason—such as violent criminal behavior or abuse or neglect on the part of the parents, for example. Not simply one or more persons being undocumented.
I disagree with President Trump’s policy of casting a wide net to see who is captured—including non-offenders and US citizens who happen to be brown. I believe that targeting should be of, as mentioned, the worst of the worst. The current policies simply spread the violence around to people who should be unaffected by enforcement actions.
I disagree with President Trump on whether people suspected of being in the country without proper documentation should be deprived of due process. I believe that due process must be afforded to all, otherwise it can’t be said to be afforded to any. Everyone under our system of laws is innocent until proven guilty, and someone denied due process is therefore innocent, not having been proven guilty after that due process.
“Amendment 5. No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” (US Constitution, 1791)
“If guilty people don’t have Due Process rights, then innocent people don’t have Due Process rights, because we don’t know if they’re innocent or guilty until we have a trial or hearing.” (Raskin, 2025)
I Disagree with President Trump’s efforts to change deportation from a merely bureaucratic happening into a life-altering incarceration event in a random country unknown to the deportee. Other governments who have “deported” people to strange places, for incarceration instead of liberty, were, in the past, unfortunately, Nazi Germany (Yad Vashem, N.D.) and the Stalin-era Soviet Union (Wikipedia). I don’t think we’ll be in good company with these regimes by following their paths on deportation. Rather, I believe that our country should act on its principles in ensuring humane, sane treatment of deportees, and deport them when necessary to their own countries—or if that’s impossible, at least to nearby countries biased to be friendly to the deportee.
Desired Resolution
I call on President Trump to use the power and authority of his office to halt the current immigration enforcement push, with its overreach and its violence and brutal treatment of people, and release those in immigration detention—including those in foreign prisons. To then embark on a genuine effort to track, detain, and deport—humanely and sanely—violent criminals who are undocumented immigrants, making our country safer and our border tighter.
I encourage President Trump to work to make the United States of America a beacon of freedom for the world, to teach the nations through strong, compassionate leadership how freedom should look.
May God bless President Trump and the United States of America.
References
Uribe, Maria Ramirez. “Year of the Lies: ‘Worst of the worst’? ICE deports brothers after years of check-ins, good conduct.” 12/18/2025. https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/dec/18/immigration-brothers-deportation-worst-of-worst/ – Accessed 12/17/2025.
Chasan, Aliza. “Trump says ICE raids ‘haven’t gone far enough.'” 11/2/2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-ice-raids-havent-gone-far-enough-60-minutes/ – Accessed 12/27/2025.
Schiff, Adam. “WATCH: Sen. Schiff Delivers Major Speech on Upholding Democracy.” 9/18/2025. https://www.schiff.senate.gov/news/press-releases/watch-sen-schiff-delivers-major-speech-on-upholding-democracy/ – Accessed 12/27/2025.
Kile, Meredith. “U.S. Citizen, 76, Allegedly Gets Ribs Broken by Border Patrol Agents.” 10/29/2025. https://people.com/american-citizen-broken-ribs-border-patrol-arrest-11839309 – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Llanos, Jackie. “Seven Immigrants Die in ICE Custody in December, Marking Deadliest Month This Year.” 12/23/2025. https://www.notus.org/immigration/ice-detention-deaths-december-2025 – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Sun, Albert. “Most Immigrants Arrested in City Crackdowns Have No Criminal Record.” 12/4/2025. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/04/us/ice-arrests-criminal-records-data.html – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Baio, Ariana. “Illinois is investigating after ICE raid left ‘nearly naked’ children zip-tied, Gov JB Pritzker says.” 10/5/2025. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/chicago-immigration-raid-children-ziptied-b2839782.html – Accessed 12/27/2025.
Strum, Lora. “Pregnant and Postpartum Women Face Neglect and Abuse in ICE Detention.” 10/27/2025. https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/pregnant-and-postpartum-women-face-neglect-and-abuse-in-ice-detention – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Riess, Rebekah and Bill Kirkos. “37 people arrested and American kids separated from parents after ICE raid at Chicago apartments.” 10/3/2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/03/us/chicago-apartment-ice-raid – Accessed 12/27/2025.
Montoya-Galvez, Camilo. “Judge orders Trump administration to file plan to return Venezuelans sent to El Salvador prison to U.S. or give them hearings.” 12/23/2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-orders-trump-administration-venezuelans-el-salvador-prison-cecot-hearings/ – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Bryant, Erica. “What Does ‘Due Process’ Mean for Immigrants and Why Is It Important?” 6/4/2025. https://www.vera.org/news/what-does-due-process-mean-for-immigrants-and-why-is-it-important – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Bustillo, Ximena. “DHS is urging DACA recipients to self-deport.” 7/29/2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/07/29/nx-s1-5482923/dhs-daca-recipients-self-deport – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Jansen, Bart. “DHS offers $3,000 to undocumented immigrants who self-deport by 2026.” 12/22/2025. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/22/self-deportation-payment-department-homeland-security/87880985007/ – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Yad Vashem (Editors). “Deportation to the Death Camps.” N.D. https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/final-solution/deportation.html – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Wikipedia (Editors). “Deportation.” 12/18/2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deportation&oldid=1328121797 – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Wikipedia (Editors). “Detention and deportation of American citizens in the second Trump administration.” 12/28/2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Detention_and_deportation_of_American_citizens_in_the_second_Trump_administration&oldid=1329968203 – Accessed 12/28/2026.
US Constitution. 1791. “Fifth Amendment – United States Constitution.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fifth-Amendment – Accessed 12/28/2025.
US Constitution. 1868. “Fourteenth Amendment – United States Constitution.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fourteenth-Amendment – Accessed 12/28/2025.
Raskin, Jamie. 5/7/2025. “If guilty people don’t have Due Process rights.” https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1066947631913584 – Accessed 12/28/2025.
(Trump, 2025)
(Trump, 2025)
(Trump, 2025)
