Trump Administration Transforms Asylum with Deportations

Warm-Up Questions

1. Where are the arrests being made as discussed in this segment?
2. Who is Josh Goodman and what is his background?
3. What did Goodman and his team witness?
4. How many arrests have been made in immigration courts, according to estimates?
5. Why does the structure of immigration courts allow the Trump administration to control outcomes, according to this segment?

News Then & Now

Then:

Policy and attitudes toward immigration have changed throughout U.S. history, including toward those seeking safety from political repression or violence, known as refugees or asylum seekers. The first department of immigration in the U.S., known as the Bureau of Immigration, was founded in 1891.

Anti-immigrant sentiment would often target specific populations of immigrants. In the mid-1800s, before the Civil War, a political group called the "Know-Nothings" pushed back against Irish and German immigration. On the West Coast, the Gold Rush brought Chinese immigrants who were often met with discrimination. This discrimination led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese laborers from immigrating for ten years and made obtaining citizenship close to impossible. Later, workers would have to seek special permits to be eligible for employment.

Anti-immigration laws peaked around World War I, including quota systems by country and other barriers such as literacy tests.

After World War II and the establishment of the United Nations, the U.S. began to accept more "displaced persons" under "expedited admission" or a simpler process for immigration. Formal laws governing asylum cases, or a category of refugees seeking protection from political persecution, were established in response partly to people displaced by the Vietnam War.

Now

The Trump administration has begun to dismantle asylum in the United States, partly through executive order. According to one order signed early in Trump's second term, "The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees."

As noted in this segment, many individuals seeking formal asylum protections in court are being arrested and deported shortly after judges dismiss their cases.

Students can read more about these courthouse arrests here.

Republished with permission from PBS News Hour Classroom.