As mass deportations begin in multiple cities around the United States, high schoolers find themselves embroiled in the controversy.
Last week, President Donald Trump officially re-entered office as the 47th president of the United States, bringing along with him the momentous change and signing around 100 official orders.
Among these were multiple regarding immigration, which were specifically highlighted in the 2024 election and to which Trump promised radical change.
“We will stop the illegal immigration that is taking place at levels never seen before. We will stop it cold and once and for all. We will not be invaded, we will not be occupied, we will not be overrun, we will not be conquered. We will be a free and proud nation once again,” Trump said at a rally in the Madison Square Gardens of New York City in October of last year.
Upon returning to office, he kept his promises, signing multiple decrees on the first day, the most important of which was halting physical access for immigrants without proper legal documentation, or “illegal aliens,” as referred to by the law.
Within that same order, it was declared that Trump was “authorizing and directing the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of State to take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens across the southern border of the United States.”
Out of these three, Homeland Security is most involved in the field and is in charge of the raids to arrest the undocumented. Underneath this larger department is the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who search and arrest undocumented immigrants.
Both ICE and Trump emphasize the role mass deportations play in furthering the safety of the country.
“Including those with charges and convictions for rape, child sexual assault, terrorism, and even murder. Many of these murderers have committed far more than one murder. This is not going to work out, and we’re gonna get them the hell out of here,” Trump said at the House Republican Conference on Jan. 27th.
His executive orders mirror this, with one declaring a national emergency at the border and another ordering the prioritization of undocumented immigrants with criminal status, among other parts.
Now a junior in high school, Jianhong Guo* was born and raised in China but came over to the States two years ago before becoming a U.S. citizen. He worries that “as a country of immigrants, if we cannot solve illegal immigration problems, then legal immigration channels will be threatened.”
“Illegal immigrants make America more dangerous. Of course, some are good people, but how can we know if they are good people or criminals? They can just walk through the border without any investigation,” Guo said.
The perceived injustice of illegally entering the U.S. is a common topic that is debated and a strong part of the argument brought by supporters of mass deportations.
“If you’re in the country illegally, it’s not okay. It’s not okay to violate the laws of this country. We have millions of people standing in line, taking the test, doing their background investigation, paying the fees that want to come in the right way,” said Tom Homan, acting director of ICE, in an interview with ABC News.
According to the American Immigration Council, legal immigration can happen in multiple ways, such as through employment, as refugees, or through the Diversity Inclusion program, which allows immigrants to be randomly selected from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S.
Within this, there is a limit on the amount of immigrants that can come from any one country each year.
Yet out of all these, the category that brings in the most immigration is family-based immigration, where immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who meet the eligibility criteria have the chance to receive visas.
Andrea Hernandez, a sophomore at Carlmont High School, arrived this way four years ago. Her dad had a working visa in the U.S., allowing her and the rest of her family to come to the U.S.
From her perspective, she views the new policies as very harsh. One major concern she has is about friends who came with their parents into the country illegally when they were young and didn’t know the difference.
Previously, the Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program helped solve this problem, allowing for some people who had illegally come to the U.S. as children to request consideration for deferred action for two years with renewal, meaning they could legally be in the country and work.
However, it is currently under court consideration, allowing for renewal but leaving generations of people who took part in the program, better known as “Dreamers”, wondering what comes next for them in the cycle of mass deportations.
“The Dreamers are going to come later and we have to do something about the Dreamers because these are people who have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now. They don’t even speak the language of their country, and yes, we’re going to do something about the Dreamers,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News.
Despite this, Hernandez mostly stressed the importance of acknowledging immigrants’ humanity as a larger message.
“For people who are in favor of mass deportation, focus more on the person than a piece of paper they don’t have. They all have different stories and come from different backgrounds,” Hernandez said.
However, personal experiences mean that multiple views of immigrants exist, even among high schoolers.
“Some undocumented immigrants are nice, but most of them that I met are very arrogant and rude. They are like uneducated children who don’t know any etiquette,” Guo said.
Yet even others are unsure if they have ever come into contact with undocumented immigrants, leaving them to form their own opinions.
“If you are willing to work hard, integrate into American society, and give more than you take., then I want you in my country. But illegal immigration in itself clashes with these values because their first action in America is breaking the law,” said Kajetan Montauk, one such person who was born in the U.S. to immigrant parents.
He sees immigration as a complicated issue but prioritizes the well-being of the overall country of those individuals.
“Due to the strain on our nation from illegal immigration, mass deportation is a good move. Once it’s locked down, we should move to reform the system, utilizing the political capital gained by ‘fixing’ the problem,” Montauk said.
Yet he also manages to summarize the view of immigrants and see from their point of view.
“Being an illegal immigrant seems like a terrifying thing. They’re traded like pawns in a giant political game of chess while facing deportation, meaning you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Montauk said.
*This source’s name is changed to preserve their anonymity and protect them from any social consequences. For more information on Carlmont Media’s anonymous sourcing, check out Scot Scoop’s Anonymous Sourcing Policy.
