Closed Borders, Open Questions: The Unfolding Impact of New Immigration Policies

By Emily Cotton
Staff writer
Email: thehutchinsoncollegian@gmail.com

Since the inauguration of President Trump there has been a ramp-up of immigration policies.

Trump’s administration has signed many executive orders in the last few weeks that will reduce both legal and illegal immigration. According to WhiteHouse.gov, on Jan. 20, Trump declared a national emergency, which led to an executive order essentially closing the southern border. Mass-deportation executive orders have also been signed.

Brooklyn Walker, a political science professor at Hutchinson Community College has been paying attention.

There have been high levels of deportation in past administrations, but what makes this a little different is the way that it is being carried out,” Walker said “Regional field offices have been given quotas of how many people they have to round up.”

The administration has said they are focusing on undocumented immigrants that have been accused of violent offenses

“In the course of trying to identify the violent offender, there can be some incentives that if you come across other undocumented immigrants, like walking down the hall of the apartment complex, or the violent offender lives with other undocumented immigrants, they could also get swept up into the detainment system,” Walker said.

Mass deportations can have significant social and economic impacts. Many undocumented immigrants work in service sectors like food production, meat-packing plants, and dairy farms. “If a lot of those employees are either deported or not going to work because they are afraid of being deported, then that means those sectors are going to have much lower production, which we know from economics that when there’s less supply and the demand is stable the price goes up.”

Walker also said that Trump’s mass deportations can have international implications as well. She said that one of the implications has to do with the soft powers, which is the idea that the U.S. can share values and culture with other countries and entice them to share American values.

“It becomes a lot harder for us to tell people that they should treat migrants in a particular way in respect with human rights law if it doesn’t look like we are or if there’s any suspicion that we are not,” Walker said. “The U.S. has been a voice sometimes and has been very powerful for the powerless and I think that depending on how this is carried out we may lose some of that authority.”

The impact of these policies extends beyond undocumented immigrants, creating uncertainty for legal immigrants, foreign-exchange students, and those on temporary visas. With heightened enforcement and shifting immigration rules, many individuals who once felt secure in their status are now questioning their future in the U.S.

David Razinska, a foreign student at Hutchinson Community College, is among those facing those uncertainty.

Razinska admitted that while he feels “slightly” uncertain about his status and safety in the U.S., this “doesn’t change my decision to continue my education here.”

However, he also said that he has not closely followed the rapidly changing immigration policies and is somewhat unfamiliar with the Trump administration’s plans.

As immigration policies and executive orders continue to unfold, the effects are being felt in communities across the country- from workplaces struggling with labor shortages to students questioning their futures. While the administration argues these measures are necessary for national security, critics warn of economic consequences and damages to the U.S.’s global reputation.

The United States was a nation built by immigration, and current policies may mark a turning point in how the country defines itself. As debates over security, economics, and human rights continue, the question remains – Is this a temporary shift in policy, or the beginning of a long-term transformation in America’s immigration system?

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