Since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, the country has descended into chaos. News of the last four months has focused on the constant misinformation being spread by the president. The most concerning development so far has been the hundreds of arrests and unjustified deportations conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In 2003, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. ICE was created. According to the History of ICE, their purpose is to “promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws.”

During Trump’s first term in office, ICE stopped protecting the country and instead became a threat to immigrants. While that tactic of control isn’t new, the strategy Trump has used to monger fear has surprised many. 

In Trump’s first term, he deliberately linked economic anxiety to immigrants, which, according to the American Immigration Council, caused the deportation of many people. 

In the 2000s, many Americans started importing illegal drugs from Central and South America, which exposed many Latinos to these drugs through the shipping processes. The smuggling of these drugs caused a culture of violent gang activity, which put many people in danger. This led countless Latinos to flee to the U.S. where they thought they’d be safer. 

Some immigrants were able to move and complete their requirements to become citizens before Trump ran for office, but others were not able to do so. Even some citizens were deported, many being the U.S.-born children of immigrants, according to the Newsweek article, Family With 2 US Citizen Children Deported by ICE After Traffic Stop.

The whole story is incredibly unfair, with Latinos having to leave their home countries because of a problem created by American drug dealers, just to be kicked out again. 

The number of people being deported is astronomical, showing the true colors of the people in charge. In just January 2025 alone, 20 thousand immigrants were arrested. Compared to the 33 thousand arrests last year under the Biden Administration. The rate of arrests has jumped more than 600%, as reported by Homeland Security. 

According to another report by Homeland Security, over 100 thousand people have been removed from the country in the first three months after Trump’s second inauguration. Over 100 thousand lives have been changed because of the Trump Administration. Over 100 thousand families separated, friends torn apart, jobs lost, people held in internment camps and people deported to countries they are not safe in. 

Recently, ICE has been arresting immigrants off the streets and invading homes without processing the proper legal documentation to do so. Hundreds have gone missing. Most are speculated to be in containment centers along the border and in other countries.

Jasmine Mooney, a Canadian immigrant, spoke on this, writing about her experience in an ICE detention center in her article I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped.

Photos circulating the internet show hundreds of deported people crammed in small spaces. One of the most horrific photos, shown in the NBC article Families of deported Venezuelans dispute gang claims after deportations under Alien Enemies Act, depicts about 200 people in El Salvador with shaved heads and faces pushed down to the ground. In a one minute video from Associated Press, What to know about El Salvador’s mega-prison after Trump sent hundreds of immigrants there, there are people lined up on the floor and chained in lines. 

One of the people deported to this penitentiary is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man from Maryland who was deported to El Salvador, his country of origin which he hasn’t been to in over a decade. 

Abrego Garcia is a loving husband and father of three and hasn’t committed any crimes since crossing the border at 16 years old.

Abrego Garcia was speculated to be part of the MS-13 Salvadoran gang by the Trump Administration, and therefore abducted by ICE and deported to this prison. A federal judge asked for evidence of this accusation against Abrego Garcia, but to no avail, as the Trump Administration has ignored the order according to an Associated Press article titled Judge castigates Trump administration for ‘bad faith’ in Abrego Garcia’s deportation case. Instead, the government has called this an “administrative error,” and immigration officials are in the midst of trying to return Abrego Garcia back to his family. 

Along with the mass deportations, ICE has started to target minors. 

In a CNN interview with sociologist Angelina Godoy and reporter Anderson Cooper, Cooper explained that ICE is removing immigrant children from schools and taking them to juvenile detention centers.

The known reports of these kidnappings have been in major cities like Los Angeles, New York, Denver and Seattle, but Kalamazoo is also in a vulnerable position. 

KPS is home to two elementary schools that specialize in non-English learning. El Sol Elementary is a Spanish-English immersion school, and Lincoln Elementary is an international studies school, which are both popular in the community, especially amongst immigrant families. 

Because of the increased number of migrant families, KPS could be victim to ICE abducting children from schools. 

However, teachers and families are taking protective measures around the country. According to the Chicago Teachers Union, many teachers have spoken up against the government at protests, making it clear that they will not let ICE take their students. 

Similarly, families are finding ways to protect their children. USA Today reported a 20% decrease in school attendance because parents are keeping their kids home from school as reported in the article How Trump’s expanded ICE raids are causing big problems for some schools.

KPS could also face this if students, parents, teachers and administrators don’t stand up.

The mass deportations that the Trump administration has conducted has ruined the lives of many people, tearing apart families, treating people in inhumane ways, and robbing good people of their dignity.

 Trump and his administration are nearing tyranny, and if citizens continue to let it happen, the U.S. will begin to resemble pre-revolution France.

While a second revolution may be out of reach for now, given the sheer power the government holds. There are still things to do to: protest, do your research, spread important information, protect kids and, most importantly, be empathetic, not apathetic.