Immigration Under the Trump Administration

America is built on the foundational pillars of equality, democracy, and has been considered a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. The United States is a force that many fear, but many also seek solace or asylum in. Immigration is welcome in the United States, however under the newest presidential switch, the current president is wanting to change the way for those wanting to immigrate to the states. As he was sworn into office, the week after, he signed ten separate executive orders on the matter. He has started to push for better border security and mass deportations, a rise, and in turn a rise in racism and anti immigration within his followers. As he continues on with his presidency, this is only projected to rise. The current problem in his immigration strategy is the mass prison in El Salvador. El Salvador’s prison is where people have been sent without due process, and this is in full violation of constitutional rights of citizens and violating basic human rights. 

In the American legislature, there is a clause for any people who have been arrested await trial, are given a trial in front of a real judge, and then are given a sentence, depending on what the judge deems them guilty of. This is called due process. This process has been around since the beginning of the United States and the hinges of democracy. However, President Donald Trump, now believes that those who have immigrated here, don't deserve this privilege, and these people are being sent to CECOT, or the Terrorisn Confinement Center. This center was founded by the president of El Salvador in 2023 originally for Venezuelan and El Salvadorian gang members who were caught. This has now become the housing of deportations. Those taken to this prison are denied education, betterment, workouts, and visitors, which doesn’t sit right with a lot of people. The Associated Press’ article on this matter says this about the president’s mega-prison. “Bukele’s justice minister has said that those held at CECOT would never return to their communities”. This is abysmal. These people not only don't have a sentence, but there people are basically in confinement until they die. 

In twenty twenty four, this prison was to blame for two hundred and sixty one deaths of inmates. Along with this, there’s not proper documentation of those in the prison, the numbers not being updated properly. As of march of twenty twenty four, there were around one hundred and one thousand people in this prison, but with Trump’s current plans, that number could have grown substantially. “The Trump administration has not identified the migrants deported, provided any evidence they are in fact members of Tren de Aragua or that they committed any crimes in the U.S.” (Associated Press, 2025). This is very unconstitutional, and inhumane. These people haven’t been proven to have done anything wrong in their time in the states, and most were fully citizens. This raises questions of how he got this approved. He invoked an old act called Alien Enemies Act, and he says that these deported people are all gang members who are foreign enemies. This allows him to do things to these immigrants that may possibly violate other laws. This unconstitutionality continues as long as he’s able to treat these people like less than. Those in these prisons are not gang affiliates, they’re human beings, and a large number are American citizens. The Trump administration is confirming their beliefs in anti immigration, however they’re using tactics that fascist governments have been guilty of. Sending people to outsourced prisons, dehumanizing them, and all without a trial sounds like things that have happened in the nineteen forties. As a country, we cannot let this man keep getting away with violating the constitution and human rights. We have to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.