From an April 11 – 19 poll of 1,002 Hispanic voters by UnidosUS, the respondents listed economic issues as most important to them. However, on the administration’s campaign of mass deportation, a sizable minority view themselves as directly impacted. Note that the poll was of voters and did not include persons on a visa or unauthorized persons. Even many citizens who vote are affected. 

Thinking of recent immigration policies and actions, do any of the following apply to you or your community?

Many people fear immigration authorities will arrest them even if they’re U.S. citizens or have legal status – 43

Employers have lost workers because people fear they’ll be arrested if they go to work – 35

Children are missing classes because their parents fear being arrested at their child’s school – 32

People aren’t going out to eat or shop because they’re afraid of immigration enforcement – 30

People are more reluctant to report crimes or interact with the police – 27

 

The share of clothes sold in the U.S. that is imported rose from about 20% in 1990 to 60% today.  It is one of the sectors of most dependent on imports. Close to half of textile and clothing imports are from China. The workforce in textiles declined from 700,000 in 1990 to about 200,000 today. (Go here.) Employment at the 200,000 level has been stable since the early 2010s. today there are about 270,000 in the labor force.

The Trump tariffs are designed to bring back production to the U.S.  Where will the workers come from?

Nationwide, about one third of textile and clothing production workers are foreign born. On third of these workers are unauthorized. (Go here.) Half or more of industry workers in New York City and in California are foreign born, many of them unauthorized. (Go here.) The domestic apparel industry is heavily concentrated in California, where foreign-born workers are the majority of the industry workforce.  It is very likely that increasing the production of clothes in the U.S. will depend on the availability of more foreign-born workers.

On no issue does the American public give the Administration more support than slightly over 50%. But polls by the Wall Street Journal and Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research both show Americans support the Trump Administration’s immigration policies more than they do its economic policies.  This suggests to me that it will continue to push immigration into the front pages. The two polls were conducted before the tariff policy was announced.

The deportations took place on Saturday March 15, immediately after President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act. The White House statement (here) is not time stamped, but must have taken place between the morning and boarding of the first plane, As now early March 24, the government has not substantively responded to Judge James Boasberg’s demand for an accounting of the flights in the context of his order to halt them, which per the time line below was issued before the third of three flights took off. Attorney General Bondi has severely criticized Boasberh in news interviews.

According to the BBC, all Eastern Daylight Time:

5:25 PM A first flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to data from tracking site Flightradar24. Takeoff happens while a hearing held by Judge Boasberg is paused. Earlier that afternoon, the White House said Trump was invoking the Alien Enemies Act

5:44 PM A second flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to Flightradar24

6:05 PM Boasberg’s hearing resumes and the government declines to say if deportations are ongoing, according to ABC News

6:46 PM: Boasberg orders the government to turn around the two planes if they are carrying non-citizens, according to ABC

7:26 PM: Boasberg issues his written order for a temporary restraining order, according to ABC

7:36 PM: A third flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to Flightradar24

 

ICE, which manages arrests and detention within the U.S. vs the areas at and near the borders, has been detaining about 750 persons a week. This is not much different than in prior administrations.  Many of these arrests likely end in deportation. Only 1% of all deportations involve a person who has a criminal record in the U.S. (Go here.)

This is about the deportation on March 15 to El Salvador’s prisons of several hundred Venezuelans. Attorneys have filed suit in Federal D.C. district court (Judge James Emanuel Boasberg, J.J.G. v. Trump). Jerce Reyes Barrios is one of the persons deported.

The New Republic writes, “According to an attorney [Linette Tobin]…Reyes Barrios’s petition for asylum was pending, with a hearing scheduled for April, when he was deported March 15 to El Salvador without any notice to his family or attorney…. The government accuses Reyes Barrios of being a member of the Tren de Aragua gang based on two “Gang Membership Identification Criteria.” The first was a tattoo on his arm of a crown on top of a soccer ball with a rosary and the word “Dios,” which is Spanish for “God.” Reyes Barrios chose this tattoo because it resembles the logo for Spanish soccer team Real Madrid. The second was a social media post with a picture of Reyes Barrios making “rock and roll” or “I love you” hand gestures.”

Here is Reyes Barrio’s submission to the court. Here are many other submissions.

By now, some one, such as the National Immigration Forum and Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, should step forward and serve centrally to collect, assess and report on ICE and other immigration law enforcement actions on a weekly basis. Uncollated anecdotal reporting is not enough. Unanalyzed raw data such as from the estimable TRAC system is not enough. We need to know patterns of arrests, detentions and deportations; organized responses by immigrant support groups, sponsors of temporary humanitarian visa holders, and state and local governments.  A comprehensive regular reporting system is overdue.

The administration has implemented a key strategy significantly to increase arrests, detention and deportation along unauthorized persons periods.  It will, in some, overcome one basic barrier, which is that while crossing the border in an unauthorized way is a misdemeanor, being in the country while they’re not authorized this is civil violation. Being a civil violation there is no authority to detain an individual, much less to impose a court judgment of a fine or jail time.

Alien Registration Act

One February 25, the administration issued a requirement that all aliens who a present in the United States without a visa register with the State Department. This is designed to make being in the U.S. a misdeameanor unless one registers.  (Go here.) And if one registers DHS can find them.

The registration for (AR-2) here which appears to be the one used asks for name at time of entry, other names used, date of first arrival, address, years lived in the United States, date of birth, citizenship/Nationality, usual occupation, fingerprint, gender, present occupation, and marital status. (Go here.)

The American Immigration Council summarizes the language in law:

8 U.S.C. section 1302, codified via the Alien Registration Act of 1940, requires all noncitizens over the age of 14 who have not already registered, and who are in the U.S. for more than 30 days, to register with the federal government within 30 days of their arrival. \

8 U.S.C. sections 1306(a) Under section 1306(a), any noncitizen who “willfully fails” to register with the government (or the parent of any noncitizen under 14 who fails to do so) after 30 days is guilty of a federal misdemeanor crime. If charged and convicted, it allows the noncitizen (or parent) to be sentenced to up to six months in jail and/or fined up to $1,000. Any adult who fails to carry proof of registration can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $100.

Part 6: Most Americans hold contradictory feelings and expectations about immigration. This perpetuates paralysis and instability in immigration politics.

I have read many opinion polls on immigration and spoken with people who self-describe as inclusivist or restrictionist. Many, if not most, Americans have conflicting feelings and expectations about immigration. These conflicts may not be spoken or even self-acknowledged. Many people appear to feel as follows: “I like immigrants, but not so many.”

An individual’s thoughts about immigrants and immigration policy arise from a sponge-like absorption of family, workplace, neighborhood, customer and patient service, and other encounters, past and present. It cannot be overemphasized that the entire political class in the United States, with the exception of radical restrictionists, has failed to stimulate any open and thoughtful discussion of immigration. The stereotype-drenched style of public discourse on immigration leaves the country wide open to exploitative behaviors, such as presidents running immigration policy by fiat.

At this point, very early in the Trump administration, there has yet to arise an articulate defense of an inclusivist vision of immigration, or simply a defense of the status quo.

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