from “The System is Meant to Break You”
New York Times 11/21/25
Immigration and Border Patrol officers have long held extremely broad discretionary powers to welcome or reject noncitizens arriving in the United States. And this is far from the first wave of xenophobia to hit America. But something different is happening now in the breadth and ferocity of efforts to change the makeup of this country.
The videos circulating on social media are brutal and terrifying — the often violent arrests, people pulled screaming from their cars, out of day care centers, away from their children and their spouses. What should give Americans equal pause is the inhumanity happening beyond the cameras, away from the view of judges and lawyers and the media. Due process is not a constitutional right afforded only to citizens; legal restrictions on unlawful detention apply to all people on U.S. soil.
The stories we were told call into question both the constitutionality and the morality of how the Trump administration is directing immigration policy. That immorality, once unleashed, may ultimately be aimed at others in this country, regardless of immigration status. If a woman returning from vacation with her young children can be suddenly removed from her family and her life, how can we believe that any of us will remain safe?
During the 2024 presidential campaign, the Trump team promised the largest mass deportation in American history, a pledge to expel one million people a year, starting with violent criminals. None of the people we spoke to fit that description. All believed they had followed the rules. They renewed their green cards and showed up for regular immigration, work or visa interviews.
Now people showing up for an interview with ICE about an asylum claim or a green card application, or to finalize a visa — individuals who might have once been asked to return for a court date or, in more extreme cases, given an ankle monitor — risk being taken into custody. Green card holders are discovering that decades-old interactions with law enforcement over minor marijuana charges and traffic violations are being brought forward as reasons for detention and possible expulsion. The administration is not only deterring newcomers from entering the United States; it is also effectively encouraging noncitizens who are already here to leave. This shift is seeding fear among America’s 52 million immigrants and temporary visitors, a majority of whom are here lawfully. This is a group that includes green card holders as well people holding work, student and tourist visas.
In September, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the last stop within D.H.S. for a noncitizen to challenge an immigration judge’s deportation decision, significantly limited who is eligible for bond. Under past administrations, noncitizens who were apprehended often had a means of avoiding or being released from detention, such as bond hearings or a hearing before a judge. But bond is rarely on offer now. Previously there was a path — often expensive, often difficult, but still a path — to relief and release. Now such releases are the exception.
Of the people we interviewed, two had no criminal histories, just a challenge to their visa statuses. Two others had over-20-year-old charges associated with possession of marijuana, both in states where marijuana is now legal. One person had a charge for personal use of a controlled substance over a decade ago. While possessing marijuana is not legal on the federal level, such one-off misdemeanor charges were once not a priority for removal. Now it seems they are.