n March 15, three airplanes destined for El Salvador took off from Texas. They carried more than 200 deported Venezuelan immigrants and members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, a criminal organisation that President Donald Trump has declared an invading and terrorist force. While the action has been challenged in the courts, and a federal judge in Washington DC is pressuring the Department of Justice to bring these individuals back to the United States, public opinion is mostly supportive of President Donald Trump’s resolve to expel illegal immigrants, particularly those from South America.

This is one among a series of actions the administration has taken against immigrants, particularly those who are undocumented or have a criminal record in the United States. During the early days of the Trump administration, a spree of executive orders has stifled even the regular immigration process in the United States.

On January 20, after taking oath of office, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders declaring drug cartels and criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations; declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border; reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy; resuming the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border; deploying the US military on the US-Mexico border; suspending the scheduling app for asylum seekers; ending asylum for illegal border crossers; cracking down on criminal sanctuaries; and enhancing vetting and screening of aliens. He also issued orders revoking proclamations by former President Biden on enforcement, border processing and family reunification. On January 24, the Department of Homeland Security issued a notice to expeditiously deport non-citizens considered inadmissible into the United States. Following this, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with other federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP and the US Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations in Chicago and some other cities to arrest and deport thousands of undocumented immigrants. These raids across the country left immigrant communities scared and hiding, leaving jobs critical for the everyday functioning of some businesses.

On January 29, President Trump signed into law the Laken Riley Act, mandating federal detention of illegal immigrants accused of crimes such as theft, burglary and assaulting a law enforcement officer, among others. On February 5, USCIS issued a notice that the US Secretary of Homeland Security was terminating the 2023 Temporary Protection Status for Venezuelans. On March 24, the order was expanded to include terminating the categorical parole programmes for inadmissible non-citizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and their immediate kin. The notice mentioned a 30-day grace period, ending on April 24, before which these immigrants—estimated to be 530,000—must leave the United States voluntarily or face legal actions including detention and deportation.

These actions are ripping immigrant communities apart. United States, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, has long been regarded as the most cherished destination for political and economic immigrants from all over the world. A chain immigration process allowed immigrant families to grow, reunite and prosper in the United States. However, it affected the demographic composition of the country. Consider Texas, for example. In 1970, Hispanics accounted for approximately 18 percent of its population; by 2024, the fraction had grown to nearly 43 percent. Simultaneously, beginning in the 1970s with Vietnamese refugees from the post-Vietnam War period, Asians had started arriving in Texas. In the 1980s and in subsequent decades, Texas experienced a substantial influx of Asian immigrants, notably from India, China and the Philippines. By 2020, Asians accounted for approximately 5.5 percent of the state’s population, up from less than 1 percent in 1970. Today, Texas is a majority-minority state i.e. the combined population of minority groups (such as Hispanic, Black, Asian, Indigenous peoples and other non-White groups) exceeds the population of the traditionally dominant group, the non-Hispanic Whites. Texas is not even unique in this, however. Several other states, such as Georgia, California, New Mexico, Maryland, Nevada and Hawaii, have also become majority-minority states.

During the Biden administration, more than 8 million immigrants entered the United States, 6.7 million of them entered through the US-Mexico border alone. Among them were more than 1.7 million immigrants of whom the US border and law enforcement agencies have no records.

Nationally, demographic trends show that the share of White population is declining rapidly and that it is under a threat of losing its majority position. In the last 15 years, the White share in the US population has declined from 63 percent to 58 percent. Due to their high growth rate, the Hispanic/ Latino population has grown to 19.3 percent. Then there are the abortion trends. More White (Hispanic as well as non-Hispanic) women are seeking abortions than the national average. Since 2022, when the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe vs Wade judgment of 1973, most of the conservative states have declared abortions illegal. According to some critics, this is a desperate attempt to reverse the demographic trends of the declining White population in the United States. There is a credible fear among the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants that if these trends continue, the United States eventually cease to be a White-majority country. This has led to the growth of Replacement conspiracy theories.

During the Biden administration, more than 8 million immigrants entered the United States, 6.7 million of them through the US-Mexico border alone. Among them were more than 1.7 million immigrants for whom the US border and law enforcement agencies have no record. White conservatives contend that most of these undocumented illegal aliens are criminals and that they pose a threat to the populations in US cities and suburban areas, thus posing a national security question. This has led to a widespread sense of rapid demographic transformation and law-and-order problems in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, turning public opinion against the Biden-Harris administration and its immigration policies. Even though former President Biden performed better economically by rebuilding the Covid response, vaccinations, green energy and infrastructure, he could not control the public fear of losing control over border invasions. Stories of caravans of immigrants reaching and crossing the US-Mexico border scared a large segment of the US public. This led to the rise of an anti-Democratic Party mood that culminated with the victory of President Trump in elections. Since immigration was one of the most prominent promises of his election campaign, President Trump is going all out against illegal immigrants living in the United States.

However, he faces two important challenges. The federal judicial institutions, including District Courts and the Courts of Appeals, have stalled most of the executive orders, thus putting the conservative agenda in limbo. According to the United States constitution, any of the federal judges from the 678 District Courts can issue a stay order to halt the entire procedure of the federal government. Though most of these actions are reviewed by the Courts of Appeals and eventually the Supreme Court of the United States and potentially can be reversed, conservatives have long objected to the jurisdictional powers of federal district courts. During his first term, President Trump had labelled federal judges along partisan lines. For this, he was rebuked by Chief Justice John Roberts. Recently, when President Trump demanded impeaching a judge, Chief Justice Roberts once again came forward to defend his lower courts associates.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the most powerful national body of human rights defenders in the United States, having over 1.7 million members, thousands of whom are lawyers and volunteers who offer pro bono services to people facing the wrath of the government pertaining to their civil liberties and constitutional rights. During the first Trump administration, when a travel ban on Muslim-majority countries was imposed, the ACLU came forward quickly to halt the entire procedure to deliver immediate relief to thousands of travelers who were stuck at airports. The ACLU is once again offering critical legal assistance to immigrants and has so far challenged almost all executive orders in various courts across the country. This is a time-buying tactic.

Meanwhile, because of a tariff war and a clear hint of economic recession given by the president himself, consumer confidence in spending has declined. This is frustrating investors and corporate leaders. Together, several Trump administration policies are causing chaos. Many Democrats and civil liberties leaders believe that this will result in the defeat of the Republican Party in the 2026 mid-term elections. If that happens, the Democrats will take over the House of Representatives and stall the presidential moves. If President Trump continues to expand his executive authority, he may soon land in a no-man’s land, thus giving a House of Representatives controlled by the Democratic Party the chance to impeach him for a third time.

Second, though the illegal and undocumented immigrants violate various laws of the land, they also play a critical role in the functioning of American business and civic life. From janitorial services to agricultural work, illegal undocumented immigrants have an irreplaceable role in promoting efficiency in businesses by keeping the recurrent expenditures at the lowest possible levels through their low hourly wages. More importantly, they become part of the agricultural production process by performing cheap and arduous tasks in the fields. Due to rapid urbanisation, rural areas and the agriculture sector face an immense shortage of farm workers. Generation Z Americans are not interested in laborious and unpleasant jobs in the fields, partly because of immense affluence, passive income and tech-intensive sedentary job markets in the cities. To control inflation, it is necessary to offer low-cost food and food products. This is feasible only if farm workers are paid extremely low wages. Since American citizens are not interested in the underpaid jobs, the vacuum is filled by the undocumented industry. Another major sector employing undocumented immigrants is construction. Since there is a shortage of houses, the demand puts pressure on builders to hire undocumented workers to lower construction costs and keep the market afloat. The third major sector is the fast food industry and small businesses. Altogether, millions of undocumented immigrants support the American way of life. Who is to fill the vacuum once they are deported, or are afraid to report to their workplaces? If it is American citizens insisting on fair wages, this will lead to another wave of inflation. President Trump might therefore face a mounting political challenge in the mid-term elections of 2026. Already, some surveys have shown a declining trend in approval ratings.

There are a lot of Pakistani immigrants in the United States, including some undocumented ones seeking a chance of a better life away from Pakistan. There have been several videos of Pakistani individuals being arrested in anti-immigration raids. Whereas some flights carrying deportees have landed in India, no such flight has so far arrived in Pakistan. However, given the ongoing campaign against immigrants, it is expected that deportees will eventually start arriving in Pakistan as well. This will hurt Pakistan’s remittances, exports and overall US-Pakistan relations. Indian Prime Minister Modi has accepted these flights as an accommodating gesture to seek greater cooperation from Washington on foreign policy vis-à-vis Pakistan and China; military weapons including F-35s; and support for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Since the end of the War on Terror in Afghanistan, Islamabad is in great need of policy revision to adjust to the changing dynamics of global politics.

The writer is a professor of government at Houston Community College, USA. He recently published his book The Rise of the Semi-Core: China, India, and Pakistan in the World-System. He can be approached at suklashari@gmail.com.