Mohsen Madawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, joined the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Office in Vermont on Monday for a scheduled naturalization interview. Instead of being given citizenship, however, he was arrested and detained by immigrants and customs enforcement (ICE) and began the process of deporting him. In a reviewed memo in the New York Times, Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued that Mahdawi's activities (like the protests that led in Colombia) undermined US foreign policy and threatened the Middle East peace process.
What happened to Mahadawi is on many levels wary. Mahdawi has a legal status as a permanent resident and has lived in the United States for the past decade. He was not charged with a crime, but like Mahmoud Khalil, another student and green cardholder in Colombia, Palestinian, he was detained and deported to be deported solely to hold and express opinions that the Secretary of State disliked.
And what is particularly noteworthy about the Mahdawi incident is that he was not arrested at his home or lured from the street. ICE surprised him during his scheduled appointment with immigration services. In other words, he was arrested during a voluntary interaction with the federal government.
This is not the only case where the government has punished immigrants for following rules. For years, the IRS has encouraged undocumented immigrants to submit taxes and has committed to keeping their data confidential so that they do not become targeted by immigration agencies. However, under the Trump administration, the IRS recently reached an agreement to share undocumented confidential data about taxpayers with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This is just one of many promises the federal government has returned since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The messages sent to immigrants are clear. You have no reason to trust us. Interacting with us may put you at risk. As a result, more and more immigrants are pushed to live in the shadows.
“Part of the Trump administration's strategy is to wing as much chaos, fear and panic as possible in this moment and make the community feel as unsafe as possible,” said Murad Awaude, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Union. “They say they do everything they can, centered around safety and security, but they know that's not their point. Cruelty is.”
Is the IRS sharing data on immigration so much?
The IRS promises that undocumented immigrants will ensure their data was kept secret. Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in taxes in 2022, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It's all at risk now, with the IRS representative resigning at least in part due to a deal between her agency and DHS, CNN reported.
Because details of the data sharing agreement are sparse, many of the published items have been compiled, it is unclear what data the IRS will convey to immigration authorities and when to hand it over. Previous availability reveals that ICE can request data from the IRS on immigrants under investigation, including those who have been overstaying the country for more than 90 days.
But justice department lawyers argue that the new contract is legal and “contains clear guardrails to ensure compliance,” but little is to ensure that tax filing immigrants, or trust in the federal government.
Seeing the IRS break in precedents only discourages people from filing taxes and puts them at serious risk. “It's like a broken promise. It's like a betrayal,” one immigrant told NBC News.
“Instead of being grateful for their contributions and for their actual compliance with tax compliance, they followed the law. [their taxes] -Their data is now shared for use against them for immigration enforcement,” Awawdeh said.
It's not just undocumented immigrants who are worried about it
The IRS has broken its undocumented promises to immigrants. It goes a long way in undermining trust in the federal government. However, the government is betraying immigrants in its legal status, as Mahdawi's lawsuit shows.
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants were scheduled to make immigration-related appointments on government-issued apps during the Biden administration. But under the Trump administration, the federal government targets the same people who lived legally and worked in the United States. Tens of thousands of people have now been notified that their legal status has ended and that they must leave the country within a week.
Since President Donald Trump's attacks on universities and his crackdown on pro-Palestinian student activists, foreign students and legal immigrants have lived in fear that their visas and green cards will be revoked in support of Palestinian rights. Some stories are especially unsettling, as in the case of Lumeisa Öztürk, a Tufts college student who is essentially lured by Plain Cross officers while walking down the street and is now being detained at a Louisiana detention facility. The Trump administration has also warned Harvard that it will block the university from registering international students if it does not share information with the federal government about student groups, including details of foreign students who participated in “dangerous” activities.
Even if immigrants become naturalized citizens, the Trump administration still gives rise to concerns that it should be a daily interaction with the government. For example, over the weekend, Bathil Atala, a real estate lawyer who had been a US citizen for 10 years, was detained at the US border while passing through customs, where he says that US customs and border protection handcuffed him and saw his email on his phone. Atala says the officers did not explain to him why he was in custody. “Even if you ask a question, they're saying, 'We don't know, that's the government,'' he told NBC's Boston affiliate.
“It's pushing people even further into the shadows.”
Murad Awaude, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Union
In other words, the Trump administration targets people of all kinds of immigrant status, from undocumented immigrants to legal permanent residents and naturalized citizens. Refugees are also under threat. A Venezuelan man who had refugee status was deported to El Salvador. There he is now detained in the largest infamous security prison. (Trump suggested sending born American citizens to the prison, saying “they are next in their country.”)
All of these actions place immigrants in an impossible position, either undocumented or not. If they don't listen to the government, they risk violating the law. But taking the government in that word could actually lead to their arrest and potential deportation. This means that contact with the government is particularly dangerous when visiting DMVs, doing airport security, or reporting crimes to local law enforcement agencies.
“It's pushing people even further into the shadows,” Awawdeh said. “One of our great fears is in addition to the way we've seen governments targeting our communities. [members of] Our community is actually a victim of crime, and they don't move forward and they don't ask for help. ”
The measures taken by the Trump administration are part of a major push to not only reduce immigration, but also to further establish a hierarchical citizenship, a permanent lower class that cannot be trusted by the government to respect their rights, even after immigrants become citizens. “This is the country we live in now,” Awawdeh said.
