Every war has its casualties and this one is no exception. In this case, it includes men and women shackled in chains by ICE agents as they are herded onto planes for deportation, often to a country foreign to them. Refugee families live in terror of becoming the next victims of ICE, hiding in their homes because they are afraid to go to work or keep their appointment for an immigration hearing in court where they could be snatched up by ICE. Victims include employers whose businesses are at risk because few laborers are showing up to pick the crops, run the machines, or care for the elderly in the nursing home. Children find themselves separated from one or both of their parents who have been incarcerated and/or deported.
Trump Declares War
Beginning with his campaign for President in 2016, Trump’s strategy has been to demonize immigrants and refugees by suggesting that they are the “enemy within our borders” that threaten the lives of the average American. His comment that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” comes directly out of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. False claims were made about asylum seekers and other refugees being murders and rapists because other countries were opening their prisons and sending their criminals here. This hurtful and hateful rhetoric was meant to convince voters that “these brown and black strangers” among us were threatening the average American’s way of life, including their white privilege, and must be expelled. So during 2024’s Presidential campaign, Trump promised to round up and deport some 12 million undocumented immigrants. From day one of his second administration, he has been obsessed with carrying out this mission. And as part of his efforts to crack down on immigration, Trump has invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, an obscure law that has been used sparingly throughout U.S. history to detain or deport nationals of an enemy nation but only during wartime or an invasion by another country.
The Battle Plan is Executed
Led by Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff and key advisory on immigration issues, the Trump Administration has set in motion a comprehensive plan for eradicating the U.S. of people they consider to be undesirable. Kristi Noem, Director of Homeland Security, and Tom Homan, Border Czar, are tasked with carrying out those policies which include a cruel and inhumane process of rounding up and removing people—some spirited away to detention centers and others loaded directly onto planes and deported. Congress recently gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a budget of $154 billion, larger than that of the entire Soviet Military. It includes funds to hire many more agents and build more detention centers across the country such as Florida’s new Alligator Alcatraz. One can’t help but compare what is happening with the interment of thousands of Japanese American citizens during W.W.II.
What is so troubling is the overreach, the disregard for the rule of law including the following examples:
- Despite of recent court rulings, Stephen Miller insists that those who are here illegally do not have a right to “due process” such as a hearing in court before being deported.
- Hundreds of foreign students, including doctors in the middle of their residencies, have had their student visa revoked and are being deported.
- There are documented reports of masked ICE agents invading homes without a warrant and arresting people they view as a threat including citizens who are innocently protesting what they view as abusive action.
- Sanctuary sites are in jeopardy and subject to invasion by ICE now that the administration has changed a policy in place for decades that protected schools hospitals, and houses of worship.
- President Trump signed an Executive Order denying birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants, a right guaranteed by the 14th amendment which is being challenged in the courts. And has suggested revoking naturalized citizenship granted to adopted children from other countries, etc.
- Despite the fact that the Immigration and Nationality Act allows 675,000 permanent immigrant visas per year, the President has basically shut down the immigration system other than to allow 68 white South African “refugees” to resettle in the United States this past May.
- While at the same time, Trump has removed the temporary protected status granted by the Biden administration for over a million refugees from the countries of Ukraine, Afghanistan, Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Nepal, and Cameroon.
What is the Cost to America’s Future?
President Trump is making good on his promise to round up millions of illegals and at the same time curb the numbers and types of people who are allowed to immigrate into the U.S. Yet the Administration fails to understand or admit the impact this will have on the economic health and future of our nation. The National Chamber of Commerce indicates that the economic well-being of the U.S. depends on bringing more workers into this country. Immigration has not only been important to the job growth in this country, it is also an economic driver. According to the Congressional Budget Office, over the next decade, immigration stood to generate a $7 trillion boost to America’s gross national product. Migrant families—documented and undocumented—contribute to government coffers in large amounts. Undocumented households alone paid $55.9 billion in federal taxes and $33.9 billion in state and local taxes in 2023. Economists suggest that if the U.S. is successful in deporting between 11 and 12 million undocumented, the economy will shrink by at least 4%. Consider the devastating impact and how a lack of migrant workers will cripple the agriculture, construction, health care, and service industries.
The Majority of Americans Weigh in: Not Our War!
The Administration’s harsh incarceration and deportation tactics make little distinction between legal immigrants and people who have entered the U.S. illegally. Furthermore, Administrative officials admit that the majority of those being detained and/or deported have no criminal record. Bishop Alberto Rojas of the Diocese of San Bernardino recently condemned the current enforcement of immigration policies and called on political leaders to, “reconsider and cease these tactics immediately,” and change them “in favor of an approach that respects human rights.” He boldly said, “Authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God.” The majority of voters agree. According to a new PRRI poll, the majority or 62% of Americans now disapprove of the administration’s tactics. Respondents did not expect the administration to deport undocumented immigrants who have no criminal record and have lived in the U.S. for years. In fact, a new Quinnipiac poll from June shows 64% of registered voters now support a path to legalization of undocumented immigrants while only 31% want them deported; a swing of 9 points since 2024.
We cannot ignore the injustice, suffering, and cruelty among our immigrant neighbors in Southern California, the Florida Everglades, and elsewhere in this country As Jennifer Rubin reminds us: “Our fellow Americans are counting on us to engage in the spirit of John Lewis’ good trouble to peacefully protest, engage with our politicians, organize, and vote.” Our democracy deserves a better future as do all the people who call this nation home.
The Rev. Dr. Rick Rouse is the author of "A Journey Called Hope: Today's Immigrant Stories and the American Dream" published July 2024 by Chalice Press.
Notes:
Jim Wallis, God’s Politics with Jim Wallis, July 18, 2025
Jennifer Rubin, The Contrarian, July 18, 2025