by Lilah Boig ‘26

Anti-migrant protests have become popularized across the country, with the support of President Trump.

The use of “fearmongering,”The use of “fearmongering,” the action of deliberately arousing public fear about an issue, has become an epidemic in America in which those being fear-mongered are the immigrants of our country. Putting emphasis on the “Border Crisis” was the main topic that cemented victory for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. His campaign preached that illegal immigrants were the “largest problem in America” as they supposedly were taking jobs, and responsible for an abundance of violence. While not only are these facts untrue, which is backed by numerous statistical articles from the American immigration Council, the propaganda has caused irrevocable harm towards fellow humans.

By making undocumented migrants–as well as legally protected refugees–the primary focus of his campaign and now presidency, Trump created a feeling of mass alarm amongst his followers of the “crisis.” While it is true that the number of border crossings had been going up in the past few years (before declining in 2024), such fluctuations have also occurred many times in previous decades without panic throughout the country. The reason this time that it appears to be more of an issue is because of how Trump has used immigrants as a scapegoat in their campaign as the people to always blame. While the purpose of it was to unite Republicans under a common fear, the fear mongering over all this time has caused people to see immigrants as lesser people.

One of the more well known examples of this is the lack of notice after Trump announced he was going to be using the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a holding place for the deportation of illegal immigrants in February. Although to multiple lawsuits over this the immigrants were taken out of Guantanamo by the end of March the immigrants who had been put into this prison reported abuse such as beatings and extreme isolation. The White House responded to these claims saying that, “these are criminals we are talking about.” Now this does not morally justify abuse, but according to the American Civil Liberties Union the “Trump administration later admitted that nearly 30% of the detainees were considered, “low-threat” and did not have criminal records.

Since his inauguration in January, the Trump administration was able to swiftly change the immigration laws through an executive action that ends the United States accepting immigrants as refugees, pushing aways those fleeing war-torn countries or death. Recenlty Immigrants have been being deported when they arrive for their government ordered immigration check-ins, and as of this month Trump has attempted to deport non-libyan immigrants to Libya, putting them at risk of the torture and abuse Libya is known for enacting on its detainees.

Similarly, early in his presidency  Trump claimed that the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua” was invading the United States in order to justify sending immigrants to a Salvadoran super prison. The men he sent later were seen in shackles and with their heads shaven. According to APNews, “the Trump administration has not identified the migrants or provided any evidence they are members of Tren de Aragua” Some of these men were deported to this prison solely based on their tattoos that the Trump administration assumed to be gang tattoos. Among these tattoos were ones of the sign language of “Mom” and “I love you,” as well as a clock of a daughter’s birthday. The detaining and abusing of people without real criminal records has become a trend under Trump’s deportation spree with more examples of how his administration views immigrants a political ploy and not as humans

When people begin to see other human beings as lesser than, it gives them a moral excuse to not believe they deserve rights and liberty. The Trump administration has turned a large population of Americans against immigrants that he continues to abuse for his own political gain. Immigrants are human and it’s shameful the way many people turn a blind eye to what’s happening to them. Not only is this harming immigrants but also increasing the prejudice and racism on many Latin Americans and Middle eastern Americans due to assumptions made from fear. The fear-mongering from Trump needs to be spoken out about as the act of propaganda and ethnocentrism that it is in order to protect the population that has made up America from the start.