Undocumented immigrants in the US ‘terrified’ if Trump returns

Ever since he learned that Donald Trump will return to the White House, undocumented immigrant Angel Palazuelos has had trouble sleeping.

The 22-year-old biomedical engineering graduate student living in Phoenix, Arizona, is haunted by the incoming president’s promises of mass deportations.

“I was terrified,” Palazuelos said, reflecting on the moment he heard the news.

“I am afraid of being deported, of losing everything I have worked so hard for and, most importantly, of being separated from my family.”

He was born in Mexico and has lived in the United States since he was four years old. He is one of the country’s so-called “Dreamers,” a term for migrants who entered the country as children and never obtained U.S. citizenship.

During the election campaign, Palazuelos heard Trump repeatedly rail against illegal immigrants, using violent rhetoric about those who “poison the blood” of the United States.

Trump has never specified how he plans to carry out his mass deportation plan, which experts warn would be extremely complicated and expensive.

“What do mass deportations mean? Who are they included?” Palazuelos asked.

“Does it include people like me, Dreamers, people who came here from a very young age, who had no say?”

– ‘Suspicious’ –

Adding to the tension, the southwestern state of Arizona just approved by referendum a law allowing state police to arrest illegal immigrants. This authority was previously reserved for the federal border police.

If the proposal is deemed constitutional by the courts, Palazuelos fears he will become the target of increased racial profiling.

“What makes someone suspicious of being here illegally if they don’t speak English?” he asked.

“My grandmother, she’s an American citizen, but she doesn’t speak English very well. Meanwhile, I speak English, but is it because of the color of my skin that I might be suspected or arrested?’

Jose Patino, 35, also feels a sense of “anxiety” and “sadness.” His situation feels more vulnerable than ever.

Born in Mexico and brought to the United States at the age of six, he now works for Aliento, a community organization that helps undocumented immigrants.

He personally benefited from Barack Obama’s immigration policy (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which provided protection and work permits to those in his situation.

But for Patino, those guarantees expire next year, and Trump has promised to end the DACA program.

Trump tried to dismantle it during his previous term, but his decree was thwarted by a decision by the US Supreme Court, largely on procedural grounds.

Faced with this uncertainty, Patino is considering moving to a state that would refuse to report him to federal authorities, such as Colorado or California.

– ‘Frustrating and hurtful’ –

He still remembers the struggle of being undocumented in his 20s — a time when he couldn’t get a basic job, like flipping burgers at McDonald’s, and couldn’t apply for a driver’s license or travel for fear of being deported.

“Personally, I don’t want to go back to that kind of life,” Patino said.

For him, Trump’s election victory is not only frightening, but also an insult.

“We contribute to this country. So that’s the hardest part: I have to follow the rules, work, pay my taxes, help this country grow, that’s not enough,” he said.

“So it’s frustrating and painful.”

Patino understands why so many Latin American voters, often faced with economic hardship, ultimately voted for Trump.

Those who are here legally “believe they will not be targeted,” he said.

“Many Latinos associate wealth and success with whiteness, and they want to be part of that group and belong, rather than being outside of it and being marginalized and considered ‘the other,’” he said.

Yet he is angry with his own uncles and cousins ​​who voted for Trump after once being undocumented themselves.

“We can’t have a conversation together because it will end in an argument and probably a fight,” he said.

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