Immigration: In America de Trump, fear wears federal uniform

Complaints of illegal arrests, racism and violence mark the new wave of lawsuits against the Trump government’s migratory policy

In recent months, President Donald Trump’s government has faced a growing avalanche of lawsuits accusing federal authorities of illegalities in detention and deportation operations. The measures of hardening in migratory policies have generated severe criticism from human rights, lawyers and citizens who claim to have been victims of violent approaches, unmilled arrests and even institutionalized racism.

According to an analysis by Bloomberg, more than 150 lawsuits have been filed in the United States since the beginning of Trump’s second term in January, all questioning the methods used by the government to identify, stop and deport foreigners considered illegal in the country. These processes cover a wide range of alleged violations – from damage to the environment in the construction of detention centers to practices that allegedly disregard constitutional rights of privacy and security.

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One of the most controversial cases involves a collective action filed on July 2 in Los Angeles, in which immigrant advocates accuse the government of creating “an illegal network of detention and deportations that show no signs of ceasing.” The process points out that heavily armed agents would be using excessive strength, making arrests without court order and applying racial profiles to arrest non-white people-including US citizens. The plaintiffs requested an emergency measure to prevent authorities from continuing to perform operations based on skin color.

In addition, there are worrying reports on how detainees are being treated. On another legal front, a US citizen arrested in June near a home depot store in Los Angeles filed a administrative claim requiring $ 1 million in compensation. According to documents delivered to the internal security department on July 1, Job Garcia was arrested while filming agents making other arrests in the store’s parking lot. He remained in custody for 25 hours before being released without any formal accusation.

Thomas Saenz, president and general counselor of Maldef (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), who represents Garcia, said that the intensification of Trump government immigration operations “is what results in indiscriminate, often violent arrests, harming target people for no valid reason.” For him, the government’s stance is endangering not only foreigners but also US citizens.

The spokeswoman of the Department of Internal Security, Tricia McLaughlin, countered the accusations, stating that the operations are “highly targeted” and that agents fulfill all legal protocols. She classified reports of racial profile as “disgusting and categorically false.” About Garcia’s case, she stated that the man would have verbally assaulted and physically attacked a border patrol agent. The contradictory version is contested by Saenz, who says that Garcia was exercising her right to free expression.

Climbing in immigration operations was one of the central flags of the Trump reelection campaign. Since the beginning of the year, immigrant arrests and arrests have increased significantly. In early June, the Immigration and Customs Encarcement (Ice) had more than 50,000 people in custody – a number not seen since 2019, during the president’s first term.

Lawsuits usually arise shortly after advertisements or implementations of new government policies. In the early months of their term, judges were already analyzing appeals against executive orders aimed at restricting automatic citizenship by birth and limiting refugee access to the US. Then came complaints against the accelerated expulsion of members of Venezuelan gangs, using emergency laws of the war -era, as well as the revocation of the legal status of foreign students. All of these cases are still in court.

Meanwhile, in the southern United States, the increase in arrests led to the construction project of a new installation of immigrant detention in the Florida Swamp, nicknamed the local authorities of “Alligator Alcatraz”. With capacity for up to 5,000 people, the structure has already begun to receive detainees in early July. But environmental and jurist activists contest their existence, claiming that the federal government did not do compulsory environmental impact analysis.

The Justice Department argues that the responsibility for construction is up to the state, based on emergency powers granted by Governor Ron Desantis, which seeks to reduce overcrowding in local chains. Nevertheless, an environmental defense and human rights group has urgently asked the Federal Court to suspend the work, but there is no date for a hearing yet.

Another point of conflict has recently arisen with action filed by Democratic Prosecutors from various states. They filed a lawsuit to prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from sharing data from beneficiaries at Medicaid – a federal program that offers medical care to low -income families – with immigration authorities. The concern is that personal information will be used to identify and deport immigrants, even those who have legal right to the benefit.

State representatives also requested that records obtained in June be destroyed or returned, and warned that if families avoid using medical service for fear of reprisals, the states themselves will have to bear the costs. “We are being used for an anti-immigrant crusade,” said one of the promoters.

McLaughlin, from internal security, defended the exchange of information as necessary to ensure that only eligible people receive public benefits.

With so many ongoing processes and more planned actions, the current scenario portrays a country divided between the Trump government’s closed -door policy and groups that argue that human, civil and environmental rights cannot be sacrificed in the name of a more rigid migratory agenda. While the courts decide the future of these measures, the streets, cuts, and communities are tensioned in a game of political and human chess whose consequences affect millions of lives.

With information from Bloomberg*