Trump's cack-down on immigrants begins

The arrest of people in Massachusetts this week while they were applying for their green cards marks a dramatic shift in immigration policy, say attorneys and experts. Susan Church, the head of the New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, says that at least three of those people were in the process of applying for green cards and did not have criminal records. “This is what we all feared,” said Church.


 Wednesday’s detentions signify that the goal of Donald Trump’s administration is not to target criminals or in the president’s words, “bad hombres”, for deportation.

“These people universally are trying to follow the laws, they are trying to follow the rules,” said Church. “[These] people are not placed in hotel rooms when they are arrested, they are placed in detention with other individuals with significant records, and they are held there without any significant opportunity to get bond, without any opportunity to see a judge, it’s utterly inhumane...This administration is processing them, detaining them, and my understanding is not letting them go,” she said. Church added: “This is a whole new class of people who now has to live underground.”