Trump’s Deportation Machine Targets U.S. Citizens, Military Veterans, and Children in Reckless Raids

Washington, D.C – Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda is spiraling out of control—sweeping up U.S. citizens, military veterans, and children in its wake. Despite claims that enforcement would be narrow and focused on public safety threats, recent raids reveal the truth: Trump’s immigration policy is cruel, chaotic, and indiscriminate–but this dragnet approach is a feature, not a bug, of Trump’s agenda. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that all undocumented immigrants will be treated as criminal threats, regardless of their deep ties to family, jobs, or communities in the U.S. Even those with existing legal status could be at risk of detention and deportation, as the administration announced today that it would not extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 600,000 Venezuelans—individuals who have already been vetted, authorized to work, and legally residing in the U.S.

“Trump isn’t trying to make the country safer or more secure—he’s trying to reshape America in his own image, with advisors like Stephen Miller pulling the strings,” said Immigration Hub Co-Executive Director Beatriz Lopez. “Trump himself allegedly said that if Miller had his way, the U.S. population would shrink to 100 million people—and they’d all look like him. Now, Miller is trying to realize that dream–confirming yesterday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is operating under deportation quotas that serve as a floor, not a ceiling, meaning officers will be forced to conduct reckless, large-scale raids to hit their numbers. Families will be torn apart, communities destabilized, and local economies upended—all while Trump and right-wing media spin this cruelty as a policy success. It’s reality TV for them, with a villain edit that casts immigrants as enemies of the state. This is what Trump does best: entertainment and cruelty. And now, the consequences will be felt by all Americans.”

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

NBC: “Trump immigration raids snag U.S. citizens, including Native Americans, raising racial profiling fears”

“Questioning of Navajo Nation citizens, who are American citizens, by ICE has been problematic enough that Navajo President Buu Nygren took to the airwaves to address it. On tribal radio station KTNN, Nygren said he had received accounts of “negative and sometimes traumatizing” encounters between ICE and Navajo Nation citizens, Native News Online reported.”

Washington Post: “Trump deported 200 Colombians. None were criminals, Colombian officials say.”

“They are not criminals,” Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombia’s foreign minister, said in a video statement posted on X. “Being a migrant is not a crime.” Among the more than 200 deportees were two pregnant women and more than 20 children, Colombian officials said after the flights landed.

AP: “Trump won’t ban immigration arrests at school. Some families are now weighing school attendance”

“They’re not even at risk of deportation and they’re still scared,” Chief Operating Officer Luma Mufleh said. Officials at the small Atlanta charter school focused on serving refugees and immigrants expected so many students to miss school the day after Trump took office that educators accelerated the school’s exam schedule so students wouldn’t miss important tests.

CBS: “Newark mayor says business raided by ICE agents, multiple people detained”

“Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a local establishment in the City of Newark, detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant. One of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned,” Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement. “This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures….’”

Newsweek: “ICE Detains Legal Migrant Who Has Been Working in US for 30 Years”

“After being in this country for 30 years, working, paying taxes, following the laws of this country. Unexpectedly, ICE agents arrived to ‘speak’ with him. And that nothing was going to happen. If he didn’t cooperate with them they would use it against him. They said they had a warrant for their arrest and never wanted to show us. As much as we demanded to see the order, they told us that it’s better to talk to an ICE agent in person. They handcuffed him and took him away.”

NBC: “‘Trying to force it open’: ICE operation at Virginia apartments scares residents”

“They were knocking very hard on the door. They were trying to force it open. They kept trying to turn the handle and kept pushing hard against the door,” another Beacon Hill Apartments resident told News4’s partner station, Telemundo 44, in Spanish. She asked us to not identify her. The woman said the incident was so frightening to her 10-year-old daughter that she cried and asked to stay home from school Monday. “She’s afraid that when she comes home from school, I’ll be gone,” the woman said.

NBC: “’I was scared’: Maryland high school student recounts ICE officers questioning him in Reisterstown”

Brice M., a 16-year-old Franklin High School student, was stopped by officers in Reisterstown shortly after dismissal on Monday. He told 11 News the encounter caused his heart to race while he tried to remain calm and answer questions. “When they did stop me, yes, I was scared,” Mason told 11 News. Mason took a picture once the encounter ended, saying he was walking to his job at a volunteer fire station when officers stopped him near a gas station and convenience store at Stocksdale Avenue and Reisterstown Road.

Mason told 11 News that his first thoughts when the ICE officers began questioning him was, “Hopefully, they don’t take me away and I can continue on to the fire station.”

Fox: “NYC migrant families keep kids home from school amid ICE fears”

“I spoke to a first grade teacher last week, and she shared with me the story of a little girl in her class. A 6-year-old, who every day since the beginning of 2025, has come up to her during the day and asked to be sent to the nurse’s office. She wants to go to the nurse’s office because she wants to be sent home,” Katherine Kurjakovic, UFT English Language Learner specialist said. “She wants to be sent home because she isn’t sure if by the end of the day she will be able to be united with her mother.”

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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.