The first time I learned of Donald Trump’s political aspirations was in 2015, when he announced his intent to run for president and made a speech claiming that Mexico was sending scores of violent criminals over the border.
As an immigrant from Mexico, hearing him talk about my community in that way was jarring. But like many others, I didn’t think he could actually rise to power, given his political inexperience and, well, his personality.
Ten years later and just a few months into his second presidential term, Trump is just as eager to purge the U.S. of its Latin American immigrants. This time around, he’s realizing it won’t be as easy as he thought.
When he started his second presidential term, Trump was ambitious. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller announced in May that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would seek to arrest at least 3,000 immigrants per day to reach the administration’s mass deportation goals, as several outlets reported.
The number is outlandish; it’s assumed that he’s looking for people who have committed crimes, but those who are paying attention are seeing it play out differently.
