Have the New Immigration Policies Made the United States Fall Into Democratic Erosion?
By Stephanie Moran
Since Trump has become president of the United States, he and his administration have made many new policies about Immigration. These new policies have been not just affecting immigrants, but also the United States Citizens and this country’s democracy. Many have been deported, and have also been separated from their families and many have died due to these new policies. But what was the purpose of these Immigration policies, how are the new policies being acted out and how is this affecting our democracy today?
THE PURPOSE
When looking over to what is happening in the United States today, there is always something new going on in the news, especially about immigration. What exactly was the purpose of having to create new immigration policies? The White House posted an announcement on their website saying that the purpose of creating new policies was because the Biden administration invited and administered an “unprecedented flood of illegal immigration into the United States. Millions of illegal aliens crossed our borders or were permitted to fly directly into the United States on commercial flights and allowed to settle in the American communities, in violation of longstanding Federal laws”. The White House also mentioned how “illegal aliens” present significant threats to not only national security and public safety but that they are also committing heinous and vile actions against the innocent American People. The whole purpose of these immigration policies are to keep the American people safe and to prioritize the security, safety, economic and financial well-being of Americans as also said by the White House.
Acting Out
The American Immigration Council has provided that the H.R. 1 provides $170.7 billion in additional funding for the Department of Homeland security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection and also Department of Defense.
One way Trump has acted out his new immigration policies by creating new detention centers which includes family detention facilities which H.R. 1 provides $45 billion to fund them, which will average out to $10.6 billion for detention per year. Which will bring ICE’s total detention budget to a minimum of $14 billion per year
People doing a human rights protest (in Spanish)
Another way the immigration policies have been acted out is by arresting immigrants, but by doing this they have not only put immigrants in danger but us as Citizens. The Migration Policy has mentioned militarized immigration enforcement, as they are troops and masked federal agents roaming the streets, lobbing tear gas, and they have been violently subduing individuals that have been fatal. Many have even mentioned that even U.S. citizens feel inclined to always carry identification of citizenship with them.
They have also taken the Temporary Protected Status of about 600,000 Venezuelans, the administration has also stripped the temporary legal protections from more than 1.5 million humanitarian parolees, have nearly halted refugee resettlement, and have also severely restricted access to asylum.
The administration has also made it hard to impossible to be granted lawful permanent residence, temporary visas, and a U.S. citizenship. ICE has been arresting people at “sensitive locations” such as schools, hospitals, and religious institutions, they have also carried out operations in immigration check ins and courthouses. They have also expanded on who can be also deported by terminating “twilight” legal status which includes humanitarian parole and temporary protected status.
Democratic Erosion
The new immigration policies have been affecting our democracy, and not in a good way. The immigration policies have contributed in democratic erosion, but what exactly is democratic erosion?
Democratic erosion is the incremental and multifaceted deterioration in the guarantees, freedoms, and processes which is vital to the functioning of democracy.
Since Trump came into power for the second time, Trump came back targeting immigrants even more than before. The backbone of America, they keep our economy going, but with the immigration policies being put in place, it is affecting immigrants and American Citizens in many ways.
Latinoamérica 21 has pointed out that the United States is undergoing a rapid process of democratic erosion, how the administration has dismantled the federal bureaucracy, used government agencies to attack, usurped legislative powers, censor and extort universities, media and opponents and have also violated due process for immigrants.
Political scientists such as Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way have declared that the United States is no longer a democracy but it is becoming a competitive authoritarian regime. Since March of 2025, the Trump administration has used Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and deport immigrants without due process, many have been detained without criminal records and others have been deported without judicial orders. ICE has even captured U.S.
citizens, many that are detained citizens or not have been treated inhumanly not just out in public but also in the detention centers as many are detained or deported without being able to contact any lawyers or their families. Many ICE agents do not identify themselves and go in without a warrant by a judge.
This administration has done so much damage to the democracy of the United States that it is now hard to speak up without being afraid, Afraid of being detained for protesting for using the First Amendment, there isn’t that much freedom anymore, we have to be careful on what we post online, being afraid to speak up on what we think is wrong. We are rapidly losing our democracy.
Although I agree with your statement that the United States is undergoing rapid democratic erosion and that the administration has dismantled our federal bureaucracy and violated due process for immigrants, I think your argument would be much stronger if you go more in depth about the definition of due process and its importance from a human rights perspective. It might have been helpful to mention specific, horrifying events, such as ICE in Chicago, Illinois as a part of “Operation Midway Blitz” and Trump’s disagreements with the Illinois Governor, who argued that local law enforcement should be in charge of public safety rather than federal troops. I think it would have been helpful to go more in depth on those who are on Temporary Protected Status and how Trump’s policies are endangering those who are seeking asylum in the United States. It was smart to mention that many U.S. citizens feel the need to carry identification of citizenship with them to emphasize how this is affecting everyone, not just immigrants.