They Never Thought They’d Be Next

Trump’s mass deportation push is sweeping up longtime residents with no criminal record — sparking fear, outrage, and quiet betrayal.

Hey Small Biters,

​There’s a kind of fear that doesn’t shout — it just knocks quietly. For many immigrants in America today, that knock has arrived.

In his second term, President Trump has promised the “largest deportation campaign in American history.” But despite assurances that enforcement would target dangerous criminals, the actual sweep is capturing people who thought they were safe — or at least spared. People like Martin Mugerwa, a mental health counselor, chaplain, and father of two, who found himself shackled and detained after a wrong turn toward the Canadian border.

Mugerwa had applied for asylum. His case was pending. He had no criminal record. His children were born here. And yet, he’s now behind bars in a Texas facility, waiting to be deported from a country he thought he had a future in.

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His story isn’t an outlier. According to ICE insiders and immigration attorneys, the administration’s effort to meet its massive deportation targets has led to the arrest of people with clean records, steady jobs, and deep community roots. Many have American-born children. Some are business owners and taxpayers. As one attorney put it: “In no other time would you see them get picked up.”