Washington, DC – Below is a column by Maribel Hastings from America’s Voice en Español translated to English from Spanish. It ran in several Spanish-language media outlets earlier this week:
President Trump evokes the character Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” ruining the holidays for individuals and families, not only for the undocumented immigrants he mercilessly targets, but also for authorized residents and citizens in a relentless war that, far from removing criminals, has deported those who contribute to our economy, separating families in the process.
A war that is not limited to immigration, either. Millions will see their health insurance premiums increase during the holidays thanks to the repeal of subsidies that Trump and Republicans defend, leading many to opt out of purchasing coverage.
It has not even been a year since Trump took office, and his list of harmful measures is never-ending.
Last Friday, he announced his latest attack by canceling the family reunification parole program for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. The program granted temporary residence to immigrants from those countries who wanted to reunite with their families in the United States.
His anti-immigrant crusade is not limited to detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants. His doctrine is to de-legalize those who have some kind of status in order to make them vulnerable to detention and deportation, and to meet the arrest quotas that have been imposed.
That is why he canceled Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 72,000 Hondurans and 4,000 Nicaraguans who had been protected from deportation and had work permits since 1999. He also eliminated TPS for 348,000 Venezuelans and 521,000 Haitians. Similarly, he canceled humanitarian parole for half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
A couple of weeks ago, following the death of a National Guard soldier in an ambush in Washington, D.C., at the hands of an Afghan citizen, he froze asylum requests from citizens of 19 countries, including Cuba and Venezuela. And it covers all immigration adjustments, from green cards to naturalization. He has just added 20 more countries to the list, bringing the total to 39.
He is canceling naturalization ceremonies for those who have met all the requirements solely because they were born in countries on his blacklist. He wants to revoke the citizenship of individuals, and he wants to eliminate birthright citizenship.
The fact is that Trump’s war is not really against undocumented immigrants but against people of color, whether they are authorized residents or fifth-generation U.S. citizens.
The violent raids targeting undocumented immigrants are just an extra in his sick worldview. Just as they blow people to pieces in alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea as if it were a video game, the cruelty of the immigration raids shows that their goal is to inflict terror and pain.
Like the hardship faced by millions of people, many of whom supported Trump in the election, who will be affected by severe cuts to nutritional assistance programs (SNAP) and Medicaid, and by the elimination of subsidies to help pay for monthly premiums for Affordable Care Act plans, better known as Obamacare.
Food prices have skyrocketed, and Trump can no longer blame his predecessor, Joe Biden, for this. In the special elections of recent months, voters, many of them Trump voters, have sent him a message of disapproval about the direction of the country, which is also reflected in his unfavorable poll numbers. But Trump remains defiant, even though it is likely that in the 2026 midterm elections, voters will make the Republican Party pay the price.
Last week, he acknowledged that his tariff war has raised product prices and suggested that Americans make adjustments, such as buying fewer dolls for their daughters. “You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is fine, but you don’t need 37 dolls. So we’re doing things right,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania.
In “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge is visited by three spirits and ultimately transforms his life, learning to be generous, to enjoy Christmas, and to let others enjoy it too.
But unfortunately, that is not the case with the Scrooge who misgoverns us.
The original Spanish version is here.
