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Donald Trump’s presidential election victory in 2016 marked a turning point that shaped Gen Z’s political consciousness. During his first term, many high school students began to organize in their communities, pushing back against rising political polarization, state-sanctioned violence, and deportations. Now Trump has returned to the White House for a second term, and many young people are recognizing how his new administration will continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable populations in the United States.
Let us be clear: Trump being back in the White House and his unprecedented anti-immigrant agenda could be catastrophic for all Americans, but highly vulnerable communities, including undocumented individuals and mixed-status families, face especially significant risks. These are our neighbors, friends, family, and coworkers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will likely seek to increase its presence in schools, churches, and hospitals to instill fear in these groups.
While Trump has broad support from Republican politicians and his base for policies like mass deportation, the threats to immigrant populations across the nation are also deepening a political resistance movement among immigrant rights groups, community members, and allies. Coalition building across these movements will be critical for fostering collective resistance.
Young people, movement leaders, and community advocates are uniquely positioned to resist harmful policies and advocate for immigrant justice. The lessons learned during Trump’s first term have provided a foundation for mass mobilization and the pursuit of intergenerational and multiracial organizing. Based on those lessons, we can develop more potent and resilient strategies to fight back under Trump 2.0.
Understanding the threat of what we’re up against
Trump’s proposals will likely create a rampant increase in raids, surveillance, arrests, and incarceration of immigrants in the US. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union warn that we may see more racial profiling and targeting of people based on what they look like, the language they speak, and where they work.
Across the country, ICE uses county jails and private prisons to detain immigrants. The expansion of immigrant detention, which dates back to War on Drugs-era legislation, targets multi-ethnic immigrant communities, further blurring the lines between immigration enforcement and the broader criminal legal system. Through partnerships with local sheriffs and county jails, Democratic and Republican presidential administrations alike have deepened the entanglement of immigration enforcement with communities, creating perverse incentives for mass detention. As the Marshall Project has reported, local governments can earn millions by renting jail beds to government agencies.
In 2024, ICE shamefully sought to expand immigration detention facilities in multiple states nationwide. At least 15 states face the threat of ICE detention expansion, including Washington, California, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky, Texas, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and New Jersey. This plan will make it easier to round up immigrants. Detention facilitates deportation, and more capacity for detention means more people can be targeted for deportation.
Under the new Trump administration, we will probably also see a return to inhumane worksite raids that destabilize and destroy communities. The most extensive statewide enforcement operation in US history took place in Mississippi in 2019, in which ICE worked with local law enforcement to arrest 680 workers in six cities.
Additional threats on immigration are moving forward in Congress. Take, for instance, the Laken Riley Act: In its current form this would significantly expand mandatory detention — which requires immigrants to remain in detention throughout their deportation proceedings without the chance for a bond hearing — to include immigrants who are charged with theft-related crimes.
Trump’s rhetoric focuses on mass roundups as a spectacle of fear, but the criminal legal system remains the primary tool for carrying out deportations. The new administration has already stated its intention to expand 287(g), agreements that deputize local police as immigration enforcers.
Coalition building and fostering shared solidarity
Building long-term power in movements for mass liberation requires forging coalitions between immigrant justice and racial justice efforts, aligning strategies to disrupt systems of incarceration, detention, and deportation simultaneously. We need to form alliances and build solidarity.
The machinery of immigrant detention is deeply intertwined with the criminal legal system, making collaboration with organizations focused on decarceration and reducing police budgets especially critical. This might look like blocking jail expansions, ending detention contracts, or limiting ICE’s collaborations with local law enforcement. Organizing with diverse coalitions to dismantle the structures that underpin mass incarceration and deportation will help immigrants and non-immigrants alike.
How young people can take action
National coalitions such as Detention Watch Network and United We Dream offer a path forward, showcasing how young people bring new momentum to the fight for immigrant justice.
Whether facilitating know-your-rights trainings, distributing resources online, or educating people about the abolition of prisons and the prison industrial complex, young organizers are engaging in-person and virtually to challenge systems of oppression and abuses of power. By coordinating direct action and community mobilization, young people are not just reacting but actively organizing to reshape the future for the most vulnerable.
Here, from the Detention Watch Network’s Guide, are some steps to consider:
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First, it’s essential to know the people and organizations that are already working for immigrant justice and leading decarceration efforts in your community. After you’ve identified groups working for migrant and racial justice, connect with them to learn and understand their values, the role of people who are directly impacted, and the work to reject ICE detention locally.
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If you’re starting without the support of an existing organization or volunteer group, build your base by bringing together family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and people directly impacted who believe in the dignity and rights of immigrants. Host meetings and educational events to learn more about ICE detention and have gatherings to build relationships and trust.
Getting involved in collective resistance
These examples of resistance to immigrant detention expansion demonstrate the power of collective organizing. ICE’s desire to detain more people — even in communities that recognize immigrants as integral members of society — requires us to adapt and forge new strategies. The new Trump administration will serve as a testament to how urgent — and winnable — movements for liberation can be when advocates come together to fight for justice and the dignity of all.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
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