Expert Talk on Immigrant Rights and Democracy

Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center and the Immigrant Justice Fund, began her talk about “Championing Immigrants’ Rights in the Trump Era,” with a few statistics. She noted it had been only 34 days since Inauguration and already the president had issued 10 anti-immigrant executive orders and 36 anti-immigrant policies. “More than one a day,” she said before an audience of students, faculty, and staff at Beckham Hall on Feb. 26.

From there, Matos described the fast-changing landscape for immigrants and all Americans. She stated that the Administration was focused on three main priorities. They included radically reforming the immigration system as quickly as possible; demonizing people of color; and shifting the country toward authoritarianism.

“The path to authoritarianism in this country is being built on the backs of immigrants,” Matos said.

During the next half hour, Matos provided several examples of specific policies that support this agenda. Anti-sanctuary policies, for example, now include Justice Department lawyers potentially filing charges against state and local officials they deem to be immigrant friendly. In addition to criminal charges, Matos said, prosecutors could also sue sanctuary cities, which has already started with Chicago.

The Administration also revoked a memo that had stated the priority of the Department of Homeland Security would be deporting immigrants with significant criminal histories. The change in policy means, she said, that all immigrants without papers are now subject to arrest and deportation—no matter how long they have lived in the United States, what contributions they made, or how many U.S. citizen children they have. To crystallize how impactful that policy could be, Matos shared that the average length of time that an undocumented immigrant has lived in this country is 15 years. “Think about that,” she said. “Now, at any point in time after 15 years, your life could be uprooted within a matter of a few hours, a few days.”

The removal could be swift because of another change in policy called expedited removal. Previously, this allowed officials to quickly deport immigrants who had recently entered the country and were found within a certain radius of the border. Now, the expedited removal policy applies to immigrants found anywhere in the interior of the United States who has been in the country for up to two years, she explained. “This is a way to fast track deportations, to try to pick up as many people as possible and deport them,” Matos said.

Matos detailed many other examples of policy changes: one that allows officials to detain immigrants in sensitive locations such as places of worship or courthouses; to revoke visas of foreign college students who had protested the war in the Middle East; and most recently, to register all undocumented immigrants with the federal government. “This is the democracy that we are now living in,” she said.

The impact of these policies has led to immigrant students failing to go to school and immigrant workers either being fired or not showing up for work for fear of ICE raids. In a particularly sad example, an 11-year-old girl in Texas who was bullied by kids accusing her of having undocumented parents took her own life.

Stressing the fact that these anti-immigrant policies will affect all Americans, Matos said we have to be ready. “We have to create spaces to keep our immigrant neighbors and communities safe,” she said, “and we have to put in place as many protections as we can to defend not just immigrant communities but other vulnerable populations.”

To close her talk, Matos reminded the audience of the role of young people in social movements, from the Civil Rights Movement to ending apartheid in South Africa and the struggle for climate justice. “I am looking to all of you to lead the way. Because every successful social justice movement has relied on the brilliance, the courage, and the tenacity of students,” she said.

Among those students were the Civic Engagement Interns at Allbritton, who organized the event and took questions from the audience. Despite the temptation to shrink in fear in this environment, those students will not, said Khalilah Brown-Dean, the executive director of Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life and Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement. “Wesleyan students have long been committed to raising issues of mutual concern and demanding a more inclusive society where people can learn without fear. We will continue to support them,” she said.

For example, several student groups tabled before the event, including the International Student Advisory Board, Wes ACLU, FGLI, African Students Association, and Human Rights Policy Review. “The reason why our student group chose to table is because we feel like this is an issue that’s very sensitive to our community,” said Ama Tuffour ’26, co-president of the ASA. “With everything happening right now, we just want to provide a safe space for Africans on this campus.” Concerns for these students include the security of their student visas, among others.

Whether students are international, documented or undocumented, Matos’ talk stressed the broader issue at play. “It’s about the very soul of our democracy,” she said.