Deportation Nation: The impact of Trump’s ‘America First’ policies on the lives of people on the move

Since his inauguration in January, President Trump has enforced deportation raids, sent US Marines to construct a ‘fortified’ border wall extension in San Diego, and terminated the existing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) asylum scheduling system, cancelling all existing appointments, effectively making it impossible for people on the move to apply for asylum in the United States (US). 

The US-Mexico border is the world’s deadliest migration land route. These new constructions have seen an increase in traumatic injuries and deaths for people on the move, as part of the President’s ‘Operation Aurora’. Previously, people wishing to claim asylum would have access to an appointment through the CBP App. Although people would still be on ‘waitlists’ at the border, they could exercise their right to make the claim. Now, this right has been taken away, and the app shut down, meaning there is no legal way for people to reach safety. Many people will now be targeted and criminalised by the US government and will be driven to take more dangerous routes.

This policy, and those that will follow, are an expansion of Trump's involvement in Aurora City, where Venezuelan people were targeted as criminals and gang members, and scapegoated for the city’s issues. Trump declared that his administration would “hunt down, arrest and deport” people on the move.

President Trump is carrying out mass deportations through the deployment of military personnel, violently displacing people from the homes they have built. The 1951 Refugee Convention’s 'non-refoulement’ principle states that  refugees cannot be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. Countries that have signed and ratified the Convention - of which the United States is of course one - are obliged to uphold its provisions. President Trump is implementing policies which violate the US Constitution Birthright Citizenship and the international principle of non-refoulement.

What does this mean for those at the border? 

President Trump has designated cartels and criminal gangs as terrorist organisations, on one hand acknowledging the issue of violence in the region, whilst on the other continuing to send people back into those same territories. Those fleeing gangs such as MS-13 and Tren De Aragua- will now be re-exposed to extortion, kidnapping, rape and murder. This policy is rooted in deep-rooted discrimination against Latinos, with the label as ‘global terrorist organisations’ further fuelling hostilities towards Latin Americans and their culture. Not only does this rhetoric stir up further racism towards Latinos, but also encourages an environment that ‘justifies’ stripping people on the move of their right to due process. This language also paves the way for policies that cross into Mexican land- for example the US are expanding drone flights into Mexico to monitor criminal activity, with ‘cartel operatives said that for the first time in years, they genuinely feared arrest or death at the hands of the authorities’. The characterisation of gangs and cartels as ‘terrorists’ suggests that they have political or ideological motives, this is untrue, their methods are mostly driven by economic interests according to experts.

President Trump has abolished formal processes such as  interviews, applications, and court hearings for people on the move that would allow them access to residency and ultimately in some cases citizenship. It is estimated that the first week of his second term saw around 7,300 deportations of people from various nationalities. People are threatened with deportation or five years in prison if they do not comply with officers, and so are left with no choice but to be sent to territories which are unsafe for them.

For those on ‘waitlists’ at the border, there is little hope for a  journey to safety. There has been a sharp rise in violence and threats of violence against Tijuana migrant shelters, with little or no protective action from local authorities. These camps or so-called ‘shelters’ are no longer short-term passages, but have turned into prolonged periods of violent uncertainty. People are forced to add their names to ‘waitlists’ or are sent back through the ‘remain in Mexico’ scheme. Funding for these shelters has declined dramatically in recent years. 

Guantanamo Bay

President Trump’s administration has now begun sending flights of people form the US to Guantanamo Bay. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, defends the move by explaining that this has always been common practice for the US in the statement: “We’ll have the capacity to continue to do what we’ve always done. We’ve always had a presence of illegal immigrants there that have been detained. We’re just building out some capacity” (Al Jazeera, 2025). 

The US military has transported and since cleared 177 Venezuelans for deportation, with little information on the average time of stay other than “the time necessary to effect the removal orders” according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. These transfers happened without advanced notice, and the administration has declined civil liberties lawyers' request for 72 hours notice before more people in homeland security are sent to the base. 

Operation Wetback 

The US has a long history of forcefully targeting and removing Latin Americans- the majority of which Mexicans. ‘Operation Wetback’ -mentioned in the 2015 presidential debate- 

was the second wave of mass deportations of Latinos undertaken by the U.S. This military programme installed by President Eisenhower deported around 2 million Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in 1954. After building up the U.S economy in the 1920s, Mexican-Americans were plucked from their communities and deported in a scheme that proved deadly for many. 

Mae Ngai describes the conditions of these deportations in her book: "Some 88 braceros* died of sun stroke as a result of a round-up that had taken place in 112-degree heat, and [an American labor official] argued that more would have died had the Red Cross not intervened. At the other end of the border, in Nuevo Laredo, a Mexican labor leader reported that 'wetbacks' were 'brought [into Mexico] like cows' on trucks and unloaded fifteen miles down the highway from the border, in the desert." (Impossible Subjects, 2004). Operation Wetback is a clear example of how the U.S continues to treat Latin Americans with contempt, and how rhetoric hasn’t changed since the 1950s. The marginalisation of Latinos is systematic, and through the new ‘Remain in Mexico’ scheme, puts many people on the move in danger. 

USAid cuts

The recent suspension of USAID programs further exacerbates the already precarious situation for people on the move, with critical aid programs including food assistance and healthcare, essentially withdrawn overnight, millions of vulnerable individuals now face heightened risks of hunger, disease, and displacement.

The Rise of an Autocracy 

The consistently inhumane treatment of many Latin Americans by US administrations throughout the twentieth century is deplorable, and with the rise of President Trump’s ‘America First’ scheme, we are at risk of history repeating itself. As we observe a complete disregard for human rights and international laws, we must consider how this rhetoric is manifesting itself in Western culture. The expulsion of Latin Americans resonates as a dangerous future for the rights of people at the border. This treatment is deep-rooted in the racist and colonial history of the American government, and threatens future expansion into Mexican land. 

*braceros- a Mexican labourer allowed into the United States for a limited time as a seasonal agricultural worker.