Trump orders could affect up to 8 million immigrants as deportations begin
By
E.P. Milligan
11 February 2017
Donald Trump signed executive orders on January 25 and January 27 outlining a series of new measures aimed at setting massive restrictions on immigration to the United States and on tearing those already present in the country away from their children, parents, and other loved ones. Two particularly high-profile components of these measures, the construction of a border wall between the US and Mexico and a travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, have sparked social outrage in the form of mass demonstrations throughout the US and internationally.
Though the travel ban has for the present been halted by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the other elements of the immigration orders are only just beginning to take effect. The result is a massive ramping up of the deportation apparatus and strengthening of the police state built up under the Obama administration. For millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States, the future poses the immediate danger of deportation. According to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times, the new orders could result in the deportation of eight million people, with millions more family members affected. The Trump administration’s move to scapegoat millions of immigrants is part of a broader attack on the democratic rights of the working class as a whole.
The language of the domestic immigration enforcement order exposes the deeply anti-democratic character of the orders. Trump proposes to “end the abuse of the parole and asylum provisions currently used to prevent the lawful removal of removable aliens,” despite the fact that asylum applications were rarely granted under the Obama…