President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda has reached a turning point in recent days, as the administration expands the group of immigrants it has targeted for removal, quarrels with judges and wades into increasingly risky political territory.
Changing Targets and Legal Battles
Trump spent his first weeks in office emphasizing a mass deportation campaign aimed at criminals who are in the country illegally.
But late last week, immigration agents arrested a Lebanese doctor on a legal visa, despite a court order temporarily blocking her immediate removal. That followed the detention of German tourists, a former Columbia University graduate student with a green card and multiple immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens or have long lived in the United States.
And even as the administration targeted a group of Venezuelans this weekend who officials said are affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang, they used an archaic, war-time law to round them up and then seemingly ignored a judge’s order to halt deportation flights.
Public Opinion and Political Risks
The expanded list of targets — especially immigrants married to U.S. citizens — carries political risks on an issue that has long been a strength for the president.
“Public opinion varies dramatically depending on the kind of illegal immigrant you’re talking about,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres, adding that some undocumented immigrants, including those who came to the country as children, tend to garner much more public sympathy in surveys than others.
A Washington Post-Ipsos poll last month found overwhelming support for deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes, with a solid majority of Americans also backing the removal of those who have been accused of committing nonviolent offenses. But there’s a downturn in support when Americans are asked about deporting immigrants who have only broken immigration laws, those who have lived in the United States for more than a decade, and immigrants who arrived as children or are parents of children who are U.S. citizens.
Political Strategy and Future Implications
Trump tested the political limits of hardline immigration enforcement during his first term with his family separation policy that proved to be widely unpopular with voters. Democrats warned voters that his promised mass deportations effort in a second term would result in similarly unpopular measures — a message that failed to break through during the campaign.
Trump hasn’t crossed a red line like family separation yet, but it’s still early, said Barrett Marson, a GOP strategist in Arizona. Republicans are crediting Trump for a historic drop in border crossings and the arrests of criminals, and the question is whether moderates will give him a pass for collateral damage — and whether that matters politically to a president who only has one term left to serve.
“Trump couldn’t have been clearer that he wanted to deport everyone who was here illegally, whether they are a gardener, a gang member or a stay-at-home mother,” Marson said. “And since he isn’t running again … what does he care if he’s at 49 percent, 46 percent, or 40 percent?”
Legal and Humanitarian Concerns
Trump’s policies have also pushed the legal limits this month. The White House touted the removal of more than 100 Venezuelan nationals they say were members of the Tren de Aragua gang under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, ignoring a judge’s order to turn the planes around. Administration officials celebrated the weekend deportations to El Salvador, as President Nayib Bukele posted grim video on X of scenes of soldiers leading tattooed men off an airplane, forcing them to bend toward the ground as they were frog-marched to waiting buses and had their heads shaved by hooded prison guards.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday reiterated that the administration “acted within the confines of the law,” and said the Department of Homeland Security was sure about the identities of the alleged gang members they deported to El Salvador, as questions emerge about how the administration is making these determinations and lawyers for some deportees say their clients had no gang affiliation and no final orders of removal from a U.S. immigration judge.
“Countless lives will be saved because of this action,” Leavitt said. “The president is proud to deliver on that promise.”
Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.
