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Members of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice met Wednesday to talk about how the immigration policies proposed by incoming President Donald Trump could affect them and their families.
“We took a moment for everybody to express how they were feeling,” said Veronica Ayala, community organizer for ACIJ. “It was a moment we could all come together and share our feelings. There had been a lot of hope for this election, so a lot of our community was feeling doubtful about how we’re going to move forward and what’s going to happen to their families.”
Trump has promised to carry out the largest mass deportation program in American history, saying that he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to classify certain immigrants as an invading force that will allow his administration to detain and deport citizens of the targeted countries. That act was last used to place Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II, which has been seen as a black mark on American for years.
In addition to his promise to remove all undocumented immigrants, Trump has also claimed that he would end birthright citizenship for immigrants, creating doubts for American citizens who were born here to parents who were undocumented.
“Will these proposals really be carried out, or were they just a tactic to win the Presidency,” Ayala said. “It has put fear in our community. We don’t have all the answers right now until he does take office in January.”
Trump’s plans could also target people here legally under the Biden administration, such as asylum-seekers from Haiti that have born the brunt of racist misinformation spread by Republican leaders. Trump claimed in his debate against Kamala Harris that Haitian immigrants were “eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats” in Springfield, Ohio despite no evidence. Far-right media outlets have stoked fears of Haitian immigrant invasions here in Alabama, including Sylacauga where only 60 such immigrants reside and forecasting a Baldwin County invasion that never materialized.
Ayala said people have been led to believe that immigrants are not contributing to society contrary to the facts.
“Immigrants pay income taxes, they purchase cars, get tags, and they pay taxes every time they buy groceries,” Ayala said. “We pay taxes on a day to day basis.”
Immigrants also bolster key sectors of the workforce, Ayala said, from the food industry to construction to hospitality.
There have also been claims from Republicans that undocumented immigrants are swaying election results despite all evidence pointing to very minimal voter fraud by immigrants. Secretary of State Wes Allen attempted to purge the voter roles of anyone who had at one point been assigned a noncitizen identification number despite acknowledging that those individuals may have become naturalized since and therefore eligible to vote.
ACIJ was among the plaintiffs who sued Allen and successfully halted the program from being enacted for the 2024 election on the basis that he initiated the program within a 90-day window protected from mass changes to the voter rolls.
“The immigrant advocacy movement understands the threat the next administration presents for our rights and our communities,” Ayala said. “We’re continuing to fight for our rights and standing strong.”
