Washington, DC — Even after news of the removal of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the Trump administration’s anti-immigration agenda continues unchanged. In communities across the country, the same reckless policies driven by Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are continuing to devastate families, undermine civil liberties, and put lives at risk. Recent reporting from the past several days continues to make clear that changing the messenger does nothing to change the agenda.
Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, said:
“Kristi Noem is leaving a trail of death, destruction and violence in her wake. American citizens killed. Children terrorized. Due process trampled. Yet her removal doesn’t change the reality on the ground. Trump and Stephen Miller’s virulent immigration policies continue spreading chaos, cruelty, and abuse across the country.
Recent news tells the real story. A journalist covering immigration enforcement disappears into ICE detention. Teenage musicians who once performed at the U.S. Capitol are suddenly locked up by ICE. New evidence raises serious questions about the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal immigration agents in Texas.
The Trump/Miller mass deportation campaign is making us all poorer, weaker, and less safe. And the American people see it. New polling shows the public strongly disapproves of Trump’s handling of immigration and hold negative views of ICE.
The problem is not just Kristi Noem. The problem is the policy agenda itself.”
See below for key stories from recent reporting highlighting the continued harm of the Trump/Miller immigration agenda:
- The New York Times, “ICE Detention of Teen Musicians Roils Texas Mariachi Community,” noting: “Last June, two teenage brothers from South Texas and their high school mariachi bandmates traveled to Capitol Hill. They had been invited there by their congresswoman, Monica De La Cruz… Nine months later, the brothers, Antonio Yesayahu Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, along with their parents and younger brother, are in ICE detention and facing deportation.”
- CNN, “A reporter in Nashville has been covering ICE arrests in her community. Then she was detained herself,” noting: “Estefany Rodriguez frequently reports on Immigration and Customs Enforcement action, becoming familiar with the sudden arrests that have become hallmarks of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. But when trucks surrounded her and her husband’s car Wednesday and agents approached the windows, she was confused, her husband Alejandro Medina said. Medina realized it was ICE before his wife did, he said. “We really couldn’t understand why we’re being surrounded.””
- The Washington Post, “Video of ICE shooting of Texas man raises questions about government claim,” noting: “Video released by investigators in the fatal shooting last March of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent calls into question a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson’s claim that the victim ‘intentionally ran over’ a different agent before being shot. The investigative material released Friday shows that Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was given conflicting instructions as he encountered law enforcement officers from multiple agencies near the scene of a vehicle accident.”
Additional Resources:
- Read America’s Voice fact sheet: “Unchecked and Unaccountable: ICE’s Systematic Assault on Constitutional Rights Continues Across Six Key States”
