A lawyer breaks down how Trump’s second term threatens immigrants and birthright citizens

Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to enact the largest deportations of undocumented immigrants in history. He’s also threatened to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants and to denaturalize citizens. That’s even as 64% of Americans believe undocumented immigrants should have a legal path to citizenship if they meet certain requirements, such as a background check, according to a report from Pew Research.

Fast Company spoke with Sabrina Rivera, an assistant professor of law and the director of the immigration and deportation defense clinic at Western State College of Law at Westcliff University, in order to understand how the Trump administration will impact immigrants, both documented and undocumented, as well as naturalized citizens and birthright citizens.

Please lay out the landscape for me. What are the different groups we’re talking about who will be impacted?

It’s a dark time, but we’ve been here before with the first Trump administration, unfortunately. The first administration said very clearly that everyone who is undocumented was going to be a priority for deportation. So that’s one big group of people that are again a priority for this second administration.

Second, we also have people who are lawful permanent residents: people who have gone through some kind of process with the government to get lawful immigration status.

Third, we have U.S. citizens: people who were born here or maybe were naturalized and acquired citizenship in some way.

What level of threat is each group facing?

The new administration is going to impact all of these groups in different ways.

First, they’ll want to prioritize anyone who doesn’t have lawful immigration status. There are about 11 or 12 million undocumented individuals. It’s impossible for the government to deport all of them at once. They are going to try to get more resources and funding to do this, but they’ll start with the people who are the easiest for them to detain and deport. Two of those major groups will be people with criminal histories and people who have prior removal orders and have been checking in with ICE because their country refuses to accept them or refuses to issue identity documents.

Then you have people with green cards or lawful permanent residencies. Similar to undocumented folks, they’re also going to prioritize people who have criminal histories and people who have prior interactions with immigration for deportation. The government has been doing that since the beginning of immigration laws, and we expect the new administration to continue doing the same thing.

Last, something different that has been brought up by the Trump administration is the possibility of taking away birthright citizenship. This is creating a lot of fear among people who were born here but have immigrant parents; and in particular, people who have parents who are undocumented.

How does taking away birthright citizenship work?

It’s probably a longer conversation, but birthright citizenship is rooted in the 14th Amendment, which guarantees that all persons born here or naturalized in the U.S. are U.S. citizens.

There was a case that interpreted this provision of the Constitution: United States v. Wong Kim Ark in 1898. [Author’s note: Wong Kim Ark was a U.S. citizen born to Chinese parents who was denied reentry into the U.S.] The case affirmed that a child born in the U.S. to noncitizen parents is a U.S. citizen under the 14th Amendment.

The Trump administration is aiming to find a case that will go to the Supreme Court, where this issue can be revisited and the Supreme Court could overturn the United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which is over 100 years old.

It’s very scary, given that we have a Supreme Court that leans conservative and some of the members were appointed by the Trump administration. There could be a darker day for our country [if] they reverse this decision.

In the first administration, there were a lot of lawyers on the ground that were challenging a lot of [immigration] policies as unlawful, which slowed [the administration’s] efforts down. However, the first administration was still able to pass a lot of policies and changes in the law that helped them deport more people. I think the new administration is going to be focusing on making it easier to accelerate deportations, since this time they have the majority in Congress.

I do want to note that, in spite of those efforts of the Trump administration, the president who still has a record for most deportations is President Obama.

How would deporting a citizen work? For example, if someone is biracial, they don’t have an origin country to go back to.

There’s a lot of logistical issues that the government’s going to have to think through, and this is one of them. If they’re successful in reversing this 100-year-old precedent and birthright citizenship is not a right anymore, then their argument is these people should go back to the country where their parents were born.

But I’m pretty sure the other countries are going to push back and say, “No, we’re not going to accept these people. They weren’t born here.” Then it comes down to the country’s current relationship with the U.S. The U.S. has more power over certain countries, and some countries may be open to negotiation. For example, Vietnam was not open to negotiating for many years; but then all of a sudden, during the Trump administration, they were open to accepting certain deportees.

What happens to someone who is deported, but another country won’t accept them?

What happens right now is they sit in detention or the government has to make a decision to release them if it’s not foreseeable that another country is going to accept them. If it’s not foreseeable, the government has to release them. When people are released, they have to check in with ICE every so often to let them know, ‘Hey, I’m still here.’ And ICE goes, ‘Okay, keep checking in, because maybe the situation in your country will change and we’ll be able to deport you.’

What are concrete actions each group could take to protect themselves?

First, anyone who feels like they may be impacted should work with a professional to try to gather their immigration and criminal histories, so they understand their cases and are prepared to defend themselves regardless of whether they have an attorney.

Second, many people are attending “Know Your Rights” workshops or other types of legal educational workshops to learn more about immigration laws.

Also, a person who is undocumented who has children should have a plan for the family in case ICE does come to their home to arrest someone. You don’t want to have that conversation for the first time when someone is being detained. Obviously, we don’t want to scare people, especially if children are involved. But we found that it’s helpful to have these conversations with kids in advance.

I want to note that this happened under the Obama administration and under the Biden administration. We’re just going to have to do this a lot more often now, and a lot more people are probably going to be impacted. We encourage people to be proactive about learning their rights so they can defend themselves.

What steps can the average person take to help?

I would start with educating yourself on the new administration’s policies to identify communities that are going to be impacted. Then, I’d identify one or two organizations—local, national—that are doing work that you can be a part of. Think about what tools you have and how you can contribute. Donate to organizations if you have money, especially legal services organizations that are going to be filing lawsuits to stop these policies from being implemented.

A few suggestions:

• National Black Immigrant Bail Fund provides bail assistance to Black immigrants in detention
• VietRISE supports and empowers the Vietnamese community through direct services, leadership development, and advocacy for immigrant rights
• Justice Power focuses on building power among immigrant communities and allies to advance justice and equity through legal initiatives, and identifies community organizations that serve immigrant communities throughout the country

Also, connecting with your local law school is a good thing because they can try to connect you with some people who need help. Not everyone needs help from a legal expert. Sometimes they just need other types of help—such as someone writing them a letter of support if they have a pending case or serving as a witness who can testify for them. Or maybe they need resources like food or shelter or figuring out how to talk to their kids about what’s happening. Knowing how to use Google or write emails in English can be a big help—sometimes people just need to find information or email another professional.

Also, people are allowed to go to court and witness what is happening as well as speak for someone in court even if you don’t have legal training. It goes back to the person you’re trying to help and the strengths you have. Think about what you have to offer and the needs of the community.

You can also contact elected officials to share your positions on immigration policies and advocate for legal resources for people vulnerable to deportation. To find your respective elected officials, you can visit the USA.gov website.

I also want to add that businesses will be hit hard. They are going to lose workers. Businesses have an opportunity to step up and say, “We don’t agree with what’s happening.”