Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

The United States Department of Homeland Security was established in 2002 by President George W. Bush in an attempt to combat terrorism and promote a sense of security across America. Upon its introduction, the agency made its mission to safeguard American values with honor and integrity clear.

But the agency has failed in its mission for years and continues to fall short in upholding certain essential values in American culture, notability seen in its deprioritization of equality.

We’ve seen worrisome behavior from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before, like with former president Barack Obama’s mass deportations, but these instances didn’t grow to the overt level we’re seeing with President Donald Trump.

As president, Trump is the man who’s supposed to represent all demographics in our country equitably and fairly. Outside of politics and economics, the harsh manner he displays when speaking on immigration illustrates his lack of respect for human rights, which wasn’t present in Obama’s rhetoric.

Trump’s reelection has brought unreasonable amounts of power to ICE through executive action.

This newly redistributed power means Trump sees more importance in maintaining our country’s borders through policies disguised as “protecting civil rights” than treating people with basic human respect, whether they’re from here or not.

Trump’s alleged goal is to eradicate “illegal” immigrants from the U.S. His new policies over-exaggerate the nature of illegal immigration in our nation, and recent data from the Pew Research Center proves only 23% of immigrants in America are here against the law. This low proportion is holistically plaguing our country, according to Trump, yet only comprises 3% of the total American population.

This calls into question the necessity, from a logical standpoint, of the large-scale ICE raids Trump endorsed with his executive orders. It clearly points to an ideological agenda being pushed behind a facade of law and order.

These raids fail to recognize the majority of immigrants as legal and often result in unjustified deportation. This cruel policy risks casting wide scrutiny on all non-white people living in the U.S., creating real doubt that Trump recognizes people from different ethnic backgrounds as deserving of humane treatment.

Trump also refuses to acknowledge the benefit immigrants have on our economy. The U.S. was built on immigration and is part of why our nation is successful economically to this day.

In 2022, the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies estimated that immigrants added more than $2 trillion in contribution to the U.S. economy — almost 10% of the GDP. Choosing to ignore this positive value is dismissive and contradicts Trump’s preference toward merit-based hiring and immigration policies.

At the GOP rally leading up to his reelection, Trump spoke about migrants offensively, using words filled with prejudice.

Cindy Zhang | Design Editor

Trump demanded during his rally in Nevada that immigrants be known as the “enemy.” He generalized all newcomers to America as a group consisting of “gang members, drug dealers and cartel members.”

Trump’s words and actions so far are a devastating example of the exclusionist idea of “Us vs. Them.” In real time, he’s popularizing the thought that “rightful” American citizens must protect their nation from unwarranted foreigners. This notion hedges on systemically racist ideology and lacks the sort of empathy we should be practicing as more privileged and secure members of global society.

Part of Trump’s actions entailed rescinding protections from ICE raids to “sensitive areas,” like college campuses, churches and schools. These actions led to the Syracuse City School District releasing protocols instructing faculty on what to do in the event of an ICE raid during school hours.

SU also put policies in place in the event ICE comes onto campus. Staff have been instructed that if they are approached by ICE or any other outside law enforcement, they must notify their supervisor of the situation, who will then relay the details to DPS for further steps.

People migrate to America in search of better opportunities and in asylum from strife. It should not be acceptable in any way for people to be seized once they make it into our country and then thrown to the side like trash. This is simply wrong and un-American.

While it’s the sad reality today, no students should have to worry about potentially being taken away by ICE — especially in a learning environment.

Trump’s orders have yet to be particularly effective, but the lack of empathy behind his policies is still a severe cause for concern. Considering his coldness, we must reevaluate whether we can wholeheartedly trust that everyone is promised equality in America. With Trump at the helm, the answer is a resounding no.

Will Chadwick is a freshman psychology major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at wchadwic@syr.edu.

Published on February 25, 2025 at 9:56 pm