Immigrants and Refugees

The 19th spoke with the head of the Women’s Equality Center about how inadequate medical care and the fear of deportation can lead to dangerous outcomes in the Trump administration.

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On Chicago’s north side, a Spanish-speaking teacher persuaded a nervous migrant mother, who had stopped sending her son to school because of fear of the Trump administration’s immigration raids, to let him come back.

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration of the 47th president, Julio López Varona saw fear and uncertainty ripple through the immigrant communities he works with. It was similar to eight years ago—though this time mixed with a sense of weariness. As the 2025 inauguration approached, López Varona, co-chair of campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), a national network of progressive civil rights organizations, says the “chilling effect” of the returning president’s oft-repeated mass deportation threats was palpable among his friends and constituents.
“People don’t want to talk to each other—people want to, to a certain extent, hide,” he says. “People feel cornered, because in many cases, the people that are living in the U.S. are trying to find a way to become citizens or residents and haven’t been able to do that for a long time, are in this weird limbo.”
In fact, much of the nation was in a “weird limbo” as President Donald Trump’s second term approached. He repeatedly promised (threatened?) day-one policy changes so dramatic “your head will spin,” including astronomical tariffs on imported goods and mass deportations. And he didn’t appear to be bluffing: On his inauguration day, Trump signed dozens of executive orders, among other things mounting what’s been called a shock-and-awe campaign on border security and immigration. While he did not announce any tariffs immediately, he did sign an executive order creating an “External Revenue Service” and said that he was still looking at imposing a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico by Feb. 1. He had earlier denied reports that he’d accept a “pared back” tariff schedule.
While Trump’s threats and initial actions have created uncertainty within several U.S. industries, the construction industry—which relies heavily on both immigrant labor and imported materials—could be doubly hard-hit. Several industry outlets…

Just a day after Trump issued a slate of executive orders aimed at restricting immigration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it was rescinding protections for “sensitive zones” where undocumented immigrants were protected from deportation. Some immigrant rights advocates are particularly worried that this could deter women experiencing domestic abuse from going to women’s shelters, which will no longer be protected from U.S. Immigration and Customs  Enforcement (ICE). 
“The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. 
The sensitive zones policy, which was created in 2011, initially applied to places like churches, schools and hospitals. In 2021, the list of places was expanded by the Biden administration to include locations offering disaster or emergency relief and social services. The policy was put in place to allow undocumented immigrants access to essential services like health care without the threat of being deported. ICE could enter these places only if there was a threat of terrorism or imminent risk of death, among other exceptions.  
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“What is really important about sensitive zones is that they allow migrant women and families to safely access these spaces without fear that ICE will arrest or deport them there,” said Zain Lakhani, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program at the Women’s Refugee Commission. “The impact might be, for instance, that a domestic violence survivor will stay in an abusive situation because they’re being forced to choose between their immediate safety and arrest and deportation if they go to a shelter or take their children to a shelter.” 
More executive orders
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