Documenting Stories of Cruelty, Fear, and Resilience

I haven’t been able to sleep since these policies have [passed.] I can barely eat; I feel so sick. I teach and I need to protect my students. I am afraid for my community and afraid for the safety of those around me ... I have no trust that our government will keep people safe.

The government has passed laws that invite mass deportation without a trial. The Laken Riley Act, which mandates indefinite detainment and possible deportation for those just accused, is a crime against humanity. No due process, no right to a judge. So many innocent people can be destroyed using this law ... Students are afraid of being accused of crimes they did not commit. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are supposed to be protected, but under this law, [people could be] detained indefinitely.

Almost everyone I know who is aware of this law and the other deportation legislation is sick over it. The only people that aren’t outraged are the ones that don’t know it’s happening. I believe that the people who prioritize human rights vastly outnumber those who would put innocent people in detention over accusations. I will never stop fighting this as long as this unconstitutional law stands, and I know I’m not alone.

I have worked in the refugee resettlement and immigration field for more than 10 years now, serving both locally and as a funder. It is breaking my heart to see people in resettlement losing their jobs again with massive layoffs due to the halt of U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and the freeze on some federal funding. Not only are they once again shredding our field of dedicated and compassionate folks, but they are also sowing fear in the community [and] literally eroding once-safe spaces. The use of enforcement in churches, schools, hospitals, and law offices is terrifying to those who need to seek care, support, and education.

I’m afraid our immigration and resettlement system will never recover. The first Trump administration, followed by four years of rapid rebuilding and resettlement of humanitarian parolees, was extremely difficult on the workforce in our field and the trust built within communities. We truly believe that immigrants make America a thriving, vibrant, and better place. That spirit and belief will never be taken from us. While rebuilding in four years sounds very daunting and difficult, it is what we will do to restore our great nation’s calling to welcome the stranger.

For four years, I have worked with a large number of immigrants, many of whom fled their country and came here seeking asylum. I’ve worked with people whose families were extorted by local police [and people] who operated like gangs, living under threat of death for not handing over their earnings. I’ve worked with people whose family members voted in an election, only for the dictatorship to issue warrants for those who voted against him, helped with the opposition, or worked the polls. They all fled under different circumstances, but the reason remains clear and united: To seek a better life, to live without fear every single day, and to build something better for themselves, their families, and their communities.

I have seen how this new administration has impacted every single one of those people ... They are afraid to go to work, afraid to send their children to school, afraid to go to the store to buy food. I have the same fears for them. I hold my breath every day. I wait for their messages. I wait to see their faces...so that I can exhale again knowing they are with their children, they are with their spouses. They are still free. They haven’t been taken. They haven’t been sent back to a place they ran from in fear.

During Trump's first term, the travel ban caused significant concerns and anxiety for me, particularly as it affected my wife's visa. Now, I feel we may be facing a similar situation with her father's visa.

My wife and I filed an immigration petition for her parents in 2022. On January 20, 2025, Trump signed a new executive order titled "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats." This order directs authorities to provide a report identifying countries worldwide with vetting and screening deficiencies significant enough to warrant partial or full suspension of admissions for nationals from those countries. Given this development, it appears increasingly likely that we could be impacted by a new travel ban, accompanied by an unclear and potentially difficult waiver process. It will have a big impact on our family reunification. My wife's mom cannot stay with us as her husband is alone overseas waiting for his visa to be adjudicated.

Trump’s latest immigration policies have substantially added to the fear and anxiety that my mixed-status family has already been living with for many years. Trump’s policies have put us in a purgatory-like state where it feels impossible to make life decisions because we don’t know what is going to happen next. It’s like living on the edge of a cliff. Will ICE show up at our door? Will my husband get pulled over and detained for who knows how long? My heart skips a beat whenever I receive a phone call from him. I don’t want him to leave the house or drive. I can’t watch the news because I see my spouse in every immigrant that is handcuffed and chained.

Trump wanted to terrorize immigrants, and he has succeeded — only he is terrorizing the U.S. citizens who love [those immigrants] as well. My rights as a U.S. citizen to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are severely compromised when I can’t live with my spouse in my own country; the punishment does not fit the crime in these cases.