Part 1 of 6
This is the first in a six-part series on how to talk-back to Trump’s lies about immigrants. We’ll start with his stated agenda for mass deportations, then counter his claims about open borders, why they come, jobs and the economy, crime and welfare and ask why Trump scapegoats immigrants and what are the real solutions.
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate”
Yoda
A recent Gallup poll showed that 28% of Americans see immigration as the most important problem we face. Donald Trump has helped create this concern and is using it to stoke fear of immigrants.
Imagine the following scenario: Trump wins in November and becomes President in January 2025. This scenario is based on Trump and supporters’ statements.
Washington Post, 6/10/2025
President Trump today announced that Operation Round-Em-Up is a smashing success so far. The combined forces of National Guard, deputized police, sheriffs, ICE, DEA and ATF agents have succeeded in rounding up five million illegals since the operation began on May 1st. Trump invoked the Insurrection Act of 1807 allowing him to deploy the military, and he is sending National Guard from red State into blue states. He said, “We plan to round up and deport at least eleven million of these animals who threaten us.”
Meanwhile, Homeland Secturity Secretary Stephen Miller announced that the administration will push to repeal automatic U.S. citizenship to all babies born in the U.S. to illegals. “We need to stop anchor babies” he stated. “America is for Americans!” He also said he’s got a new plan for child separation in order to protect them from traffickers who masquerade as their parents.
Kansas City Star, 6/12/2025
The Jackson County Health Department reports that the number of children left behind after their parents were deported is reaching alarming levels. Mayor Lucas complained, “The economy is in freefall. Restaurants are closed for lack of cooks and dishwashers. Hotels are asking guests to change the sheets. Childcare centers are closed for lack of staff, and there’s a looming food shortage, as raids in California cut fruit and vegetable supplies and meat packing companies in Dodge and Garden Cities have few workers left.”
The Houston Chronicle 6/14/2025 Thousands of people are crowded into tent camps surrounded by razor wire near the border awaiting processing for deportation. The courts are overwhelmed. As a result, President Trump announced yesterday he will invoke the 1798 Alien Act, which will give him the right to deport anyone whom he thinks is a threat to the US without due process. He said he’s unconcerned about reports that citizens have been swept up in the raids. “After all,” he said, “There’s precedent. Ike did the same thing in the 1950s in Operation Wetback.”
The Nation, 6/30/2025
An army of new Trump officials are wasting no time in implementing Trump’s platform and Project 2025. Project 2025 is the thousand-page blueprint for the presidential transition developed by the Heritage Foundation and officials from the first Trump administration. The Project is Christian Nationalist (aimed at sending women back to the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant) and supports the unitary executive theory which gives the President virtually unlimited power.
Following Project 2025, the administration has reimposed the Muslim ban, the Safe Third Country Rule requiring migrants to apply for asylum in any country they cross instead of in the U.S., and the Remain in Mexico Rule. Also, Trump says he will revoke TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for Salvadorans, Haitians, and Sudanese and trafficking and U visas. Meanwhile U.S. embassy consular offices in charge of issuing visas for people to visit or do business in the US now do ideological screening of all applicants.
Back to 2024:
This is what Trump is promising for the millions of our immigrant neighbors and fellow workers. It will destroy our civil liberties and our economy. So, why pick on immigrants? Why not look at the real source of the rise of inequality and job insecurity that so many in the working class have, the breakdown and underfunding of our public schools, the rip-off that is our healthcare system, and the paralysis of government to provide the security we all want? Why not offer real solutions for these problems rather than cook up phony “invasions” and lies about criminal immigrants who steal our jobs? We’ll unravel the answers to those riddles in future articles.
