In the States: Trump’s Indiscriminate Deportation Machine Targets Workers, Families, and Long-Settled Immigrants

Washington, D.C. – Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda continues to target legal residents, essential workers, and community leaders, revealing a horrifying truth: Trump’s immigration policy is cruel, chaotic, and indiscriminate. Now, with a 1798 wartime law and a pending $350 billion check from Congress, Trump is set to supercharge these efforts through militarized enforcement, invasive surveillance, and government overreach–all at the expense of civil rights and working families.

In Washington state, a 64-year-old green card holder and lab technician was detained over a decades-old conviction. In Oregon, a young Venezuelan asylum-seeker and labor rights volunteer was lured into detention under false pretenses. From Massachusetts to Florida, reports continue to surface of ICE detaining individuals during routine check-ins, workplace arrests without warrants, and sweeping operations involving multiple federal agencies. The pattern is clear: Trump’s deportation machine is targeting people who are working, contributing, and trying to comply with the law—treating due process and dignity as optional.

Read more about the everyday Americans affected by Trump’s anti-immigrant assault:

CBS: ICE detains University of Alabama doctoral student (March 27, 2025; Tuscaloosa, AL)

Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student originally from Iran who studies mechanical engineering, was taken into custody early Tuesday and detained, according to the university and its student newspaper, The Crimson White. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Doroudi at around 5 a.m. that morning at his home, the paper reported.

Why Doroudi was detained is not clear. The university confirmed in a statement that ICE had detained one of its students but did not identify the student nor provide details about the arrest.

NBC: What we know about the case of the Tufts University student detained by ICE (March 27, 2025; Somerville, MA)

She goes on to say that Ozturk has not been charged with any crime and that it appears she was targeted based on her free speech.

“We should all be horrified at the way DHS spirited away Rumeysa in broad daylight. No person, regardless of their citizenship status, should be targeted over their views, especially in support of human rights,” Khanbabai said.

NPR: ‘Felt like a kidnapping’: Wrong turn leads to 5-day detention ordeal (March 26, 2025; Detroit, MI)

On Saturday, March 8, a woman named Sarahi hopped into the car with her two kids and her 19-year old brother to drive from their home in Detroit, Michigan to do some shopping at the local Costco and get some lunch.

Accidentally driving onto the Ambassador Bridge to Canada from the Detroit-area is a common mistake. Locals say it’s an area that is always under construction and can be confusing.

For the next five days, Sarahi said she and her children were held in a windowless office space, in a one story building between the toll plaza and the bridge, with no access to legal counsel or communication with her consulate. Her two daughters, ages 1 and 5, are both American citizens. As a result of that wrong turn, she says her family lived through a nightmare that “felt like a kidnapping.”

WBUR: Flurry of ICE raids follow border czar’s threats of ‘bringing hell’ to Boston (March 24, 2025; Boston, MA)

ICE officials said the raids involved agents from a gamut of agencies, including the FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; as well as Customs and Border Patrol and the Diplomatic Security Service.

In a written statement, ICE officials alleged that more than 200 of those detained had “significant criminal convictions or charges.” ICE did not offer any evidence to support the claim.

She said some witnesses and video taken during the raids suggested officers may not have presented warrants, and many questions remain about the due process rights of those taken in.

KUOW: UW Medicine employee, green card holder detained by ICE in Tacoma (March 24, 2025; Tacoma, WA)

Lewelyn Dixon was on her way back to the Seattle area on Feb. 28 after visiting family in the Philippines when she was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and sent to the immigration detention facility in Tacoma.

Her lawyer Benjamin Osorio said she was detained because of a non-violent conviction from 2001, for embezzlement. At the time, she was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house and a $6,400 fine; she received no jail or prison time, he told KUOW.

Dixon is a lab technician at UW Medicine and has a green card. She’s 64 years old and has lived in the U.S. since she was 14.

Newsweek: Migrant ‘Lured’ to ICE Custody Fears Deportation to El Salvador (March 24, 2025; Portland, OR)

Jorge Reinaldo Molleda, a 22-year-old asylum-seeker from Venezuela, is currently in ICE detention after receiving a call from ICE instructing him to report the following day to sign some documents. Upon his arrival at the offices on February 20, he was informed that his case was undergoing “custody redetermination,” leading to his detention at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.

Since arriving in the U.S, Molleda has become involved in his local community. He is a church member and has participated in various community-led initiatives. Since March 2024, he has been involved with the Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project, where he has engaged in leadership and job training programs, including completing an irrigation program in partnership with Portland Community College.

Tri-City Herald: This Pasco mechanic isn’t a felon or violent. So why was he arrested by ICE? (March 24, 2025; Pasco, WA)

Alejandra Guzman-Mercado told the Tri-City Herald that her father was stopped by a federal immigration agent in Pasco around 11 a.m. on Feb. 23. He was driving a work truck when he was pulled over by an unmarked vehicle, one block away from his home.

The man was born in Mexico and was working with an immigration attorney at Quiroga Law Office in Kennewick to establish legal status and apply for a work permit. He may have been targeted because of a DUI charge in 2020 and minor traffic violations that had been resolved. Guzman-Mercado said the ICE agent who arrested her father did not have a warrant.

Boston Globe: After ICE arrests hundreds in Mass., families who thought they would be safe are reeling (March 24, 2025; MA)

In New Bedford, several workers were arrested by immigration authorities last week on their way to a construction site. In Fall River, a citizen from Puerto Rico said federal officials blocked her car until she had shown them three forms of identification.

And in Chelsea, a Salvadoran father of two with a work permit, no known criminal record, and a pending asylum case was taken into custody last Tuesday on his way to work. The man, who has been in the country for more than five years, is being held at a detention center in Plymouth.

KREM2: Five arrested in Athol, Idaho, for immigration violations (March 21, 2025; Athol, ID)

The release said KCSO deputies were patrolling in the area of the Super 1 Foods about 8:30 p.m. when they observed a suspicious occupied vehicle in the parking lot.

The record check revealed the registered owner of the vehicle had a federal arrest warrant for previously being deported. 

“As the deputies went to check the vehicle, the subjects who had originally walked into the store exited and upon seeing the deputies turned and ran back into the store,” the release said. “A deputy briefly pursued the subjects into the store and detained them.”

Newsweek: ICE Detains 18 People Showing Up for Scheduled Immigration Appointments (March 21, 2025; South Florida)

At least 18 [Cuban] individuals have been taken into custody, the Miami Herald reported, despite previously being given somewhat special protections from removal proceedings.

According to the Miami Herald, it is those in this second group who are being detained by ICE while attending regular check-ins. This marks a shift in policy, where those without criminal records were previously not taken into custody.

WAMC: Unprecedented crackdown sees ICE agents detain at least 10 Berkshire community members in sweep (March 21, 2025; Berkshire County, MA)

Spotted alongside ICE agents were representatives of other federal agencies including the FBI and ATF.

“What was very concerning is that, allegedly, ICE is not following protocol,” he told WAMC. “They came in without a warning, they did not produce any type of document. We also know for a fact that we have two landscapers that were in Monterey, they disappeared. People were very concerned, they were reported missing to the police, so the police informed them that ICE have taken them. We can be talking about serious violations of protocol”

NPR: What we know about the case of detained Georgetown professor Badar Khan Suri (March 21, 2025)

A federal judge has blocked immigration officials from deporting a Georgetown University professor and postdoctoral scholar who was detained by the Trump administration earlier this week. Suri is being accused by Department of Homeland Security officials of spreading Hamas propaganda . . . . Attorneys with the Virginia ACLU have said in court filings that the government is retaliating against Suri for his and his wife’s support for Palestinians and for the couple’s ties to Gaza.

Suri’s plight started March 17, when upon returning home following a Ramadan meal celebration, he was approached by masked federal agents who identified themselves as part of the Department of Homeland Security. They informed him that the government had revoked his visa. The Trump administration is using the same “rarely used” federal provision to attempt to remove Suri as they did in the case of Khalil.

Local 10: Bahamian woman’s arrest at Fort Lauderdale airport highlights immigration crackdown (March 20, 2025; Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

James Walkine said his partner Lashar Smith was detained Tuesday after TSA flagged issues with her ID, prompting the Broward Sheriff’s Office to get involved. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents then took her into custody, Walkine said, adding that she has no criminal record but was detained for being an overstay.

Walkine said they had been trying to adjust their immigration status, but the process has been slow. Walkine told Local 10 News that the process of trying to comply has been confusing, expensive and frustrating.

###

The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.