by Nick Gier
All Latinos, U.S. citizens or not, are fair game to be seized at any time.
—Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor
In 1951, the United States was a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention, and in 1980 Congress passed the Refugee Act. Those who seek asylum in the U.S. and have reported to border patrol have a right to have their cases heard before an immigration judge.
Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security are now pressuring these judges to deny more appeals. In March 2025, according to visaverge.com, only 11,000 appeared in court and 76% were denied asylum. Under the Refugee Act only those who claim political oppression, not just economic hardship, are eligible for asylum.
There are, mainly because of a severe shortage of immigration judges, 3.7 million cases still pending. The average wait time nationwide is 3.5 years. Even though these people are legally immune from arrest, six have been arrested in a San Francisco immigration court since June. Many asylum seekers are now afraid to show up for mandatory check-ins and that puts them at risk for arrest and deportation.
Just last week, an Ecuadorian man was detained by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents as he was attending his asylum hearing at a New York City immigration court. His wife insisted that she and their daughters be taken as well. A video shows an ICE agent pulling her hair and knocking her against a wall. The agent was suspended but he was back on duty in a few days.
For over a quarter century comprehensive immigration legislation, which would have added more asylum judges and other essential provisions, has been blocked by Republicans. In 2024, Democrats gave up nearly every one of their preferred items in a bipartisan bill, but candidate Trump commanded that it not pass.
Contrary to claims that former presidents Obama and Biden “let them all go,” is the fact that “Deporter-in-Chief” Obama expelled 5.3 million over 8 years. Biden’s arrest rate was lower than Trump’s but his daily deportation rate was higher: 742 as opposed to Trump’s 661 in his first three months (tracreports.org/reports/756).
The Obama/Biden arrests were relatively humane, but Trump’s have been indiscriminate and brutal—violating all legal and humanitarian norms. Stephen Miller, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff, has told ICE that their agents must arrest 3,000 migrants a day regardless of their legal status. For the first six months of the Trump administration, 68,118 non-violent migrants, definitely not “the worst of the worst,” have been arrested.
According to ICE’s own data, only 28% of those detained had criminal records and most were for minor offenses. From October 1 to May 31, ICE agents have arrested 184,042 people only 762 (.4%) were convicted for murder and only 1,693 (.9%) convicted of sexual assault. Previous investigations have revealed that some of these cases went back 40 years and that many of those arrested had already served their sentences.
NBC News (August 25) quotes an immigration official who admitted that “the agency has shifted away from prioritizing deporting criminals and is instead focused on deporting anyone who does not have legal status.” The ICE dragnet, however, does not show any attempt to distinguish the documented from the undocumented. The Trump administration has declared war on brown people.
U.S. citizens have also been arrested. Between 2015 and 2020, according to the Government Accountability Office, 674 citizens were detained and 70 were deported. The journal Migrant Insider, however, insists that “the actual number could be much higher.”
U.S. citizen Job Garcia was tackled, beaten, and detained for 24 hours. After a workplace raid, citizen and veteran George Retes was detained for three days. American Leonardo Garcia Venegas was tackled at his Alabama jobsite and his REAL ID was rejected as fake. Citizen Andrea Velez, who held up her hand to protect herself as an ICE officer picked her up and carried her off, was arrested for assault.
On June 12 Los Angeles born Jason Brian Gavidia was repeatedly asked whether he was an American. On video one can see that he repeatedly answered “Yes,” but he was thrown up against a fence and forcibly restrained. He was asked “What hospital were you born in?” but Gavidia answered that he did not know.
Readers will note the Hispanic names above, and incredibly enough, the Supreme Court has now permitted racial profiling as a legitimate criterion for arrest. ICE has always been forbidden to ask about a person’s birthplace, but the Court’s racist ruling may well invalidate this prohibition.
Nick Gier of Moscow taught world religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. He has another article on immigration at bit.ly/4gToVBA. He has posted other articles on Trump at bit.ly/3LWTeMG. Check out his other articles at nfgier.com. Email him at ngier006∂gmail.com.