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Description

This paper exposes how immigration enforcement under the Trump administration’s second term has crossed the line from policy to persecution. ICE is operating like a secret police force, using fear tactics and legal loopholes to tear families apart without cause or due process. The impact is not theoretical. It is real, measurable, and devastating. Children are being taken from schools. Parents are disappearing without explanation. Communities are being pushed into silence and survival mode. This paper focuses on the trauma being inflicted, especially on immigrant youth, and the way outdated laws like the Alien Enemies Act are being twisted to justify actions that are unconstitutional and inhumane. It also examines the role of language and media in normalizing this cruelty. But it is not just about the damage. It is about the resistance. From organizers on the ground to leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, there are people fighting back. This is a call to pay attention, to stay loud, and to remember that the cruelty is not a mistake. It is the point.

Course and Instructor

HCOM 340S Kristen La Follette

Keywords

ICE, family separation, immigrant trauma, DACA, due process

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Immigration Law | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Comments

I heard about this award through an email sent by my professor Kristen La Follette. I had just finished writing this paper and was in the middle of working on a podcast that continues the conversation it started. Given where we live and the current political climate, I felt a responsibility to write this not just to educate myself but to better understand how I can show up for my community. This piece is personal, urgent, and rooted in the belief that staying silent is not an option.

[2025 Honorable Mention] ICE: Trauma, and the War on Immigrant Families

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