As the United States begins the second year of Trump’s second term, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) continues to deport who it deems illegal immigrants, according to the plans laid out in Project 2025. Despite the organization being formed to promote American safety and security, that is not the reality being presented. From separating innocent families to killing defiant individuals in the street, ICE has surpassed the legality of their position and threaten the democracy and freedom that our country claims to promote.
In an era of American history already hindered by increased political violence and hostility, many turn towards public spaces, such as schools, hospitals and places of worship, for security. However the liberty of protecting these spaces has been recently revoked by the Trump administration by rescinding Biden’s ‘sensitive locations memo,’ which listed areas that restricted immigration arrests on the grounds of being essential services. In continuity, ICE agents have taken advantage of this, with cases of agents entering hospitals and clinics to arrest patients and agents waiting outside of school buildings to question students. By creating fear around needs like health and education, ICE has inhibited the principles of safety and security they claim to protect.
On the legal level, ICE has overstepped many constitutional boundaries through their systems of arrest and deportation. Due process, which grants a person the right to the courts and equal treatment under the law and is protected through the fifth and 14th Amendments, has been eliminated from many cases surrounding ICE. The right to due process has been a struggle within illegal immigrant cases for decades, but has become more severe in the past year under the current federal administration. According to the American Immigration Council, the Trump administration has removed, added and modified laws to fit into the agenda that ICE works for. But these changes contradict constitutional rights and threaten American freedoms.
Additionally, the lack of due process is not ICE’s only breach of constitutional rights, as back in Sept. 2025 the Supreme Court overturned a ruling regarding racial profiling as illegal, later backed up by President Trump. According to the American Immigration Council, this overturn allows for ICE to question and demand papers from individuals based on race, language and employment. These rulings go hand in hand with the reality that many ICE detainees aren’t criminals, with a 2,450 percent increase in the number of people with no criminal record being held in ICE detention, according to the American Immigration Council.
It is indisputable that the United States is facing an immigration crisis, but there needs to be proper resources and regulations to handle the influx of immigration we’re facing. Currently the system of immigration and customs enforcement is more harmful than helpful to both citizens and non-citizens. In a country built on the principles of liberty and democracy, reform is needed in the way we handle immigration enforcement.
