Former president Donald Trump is reviving discussions of mass deportations, similar to Eisenhower-era tactics, including using military resources to address immigration. Trump's current campaign pledges to insight the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.
Former officials raise significant legal, logistical, and humanitarian concerns, highlighting challenges such as detention space, personnel shortages, and resistance from local authorities. Despite past setbacks, Trump's determination to pursue mass deportations remains a core theme in his immigration policy platform, drawing both support and criticism.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight and analysis on Trump’s immigration policy platform. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Tayah Frye at [email protected] and Shannon Mitchell at [email protected].
Immigration Policy
Elizabeth Vaquera is the inaugural Director of the Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute and an Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University. Vaquera's research focuses on vulnerable and diverse groups, particularly Latinos/as and immigrants. Her work has analyzed the character and importance of immigrant status, race, and ethnic identity in outcomes such as education, health, and emotional and social well-being. In addition to an extensive body of work published in leading peer-reviewed journals, Vaquera is the co-author of several books, the most recent of which, Education and Immigration, examines the educational experiences of immigrants and their children living in the U.S.
Kelly Bauer specializes in identity and development politics in Latin America. Her research explores how states govern national identity as global trends challenge understandings of state sovereignty; recent work explored Indigenous rights and irregular migration. Her first book, Negotiating Autonomy: Mapuche Territorial Demands and Chilean Land Policy (2021), explored inconsistencies in how Chilean state officials navigated extending elite and neoliberal governance and citizenship through Indigenous land policy.
Law
Alberto Benítez is a Professor of Clinical Law; and Director of GW Law’s Immigration Clinic. Professor Benítez is an expert in Immigration Law. Benítez supervises students that handle a variety of immigration law matters including representing noncitizens, writing comments to proposed federal regulations, and disseminating information to the public.
Cori Alonso-Yoder is an Associate Professor of Fundamentals of Lawyering at the GW Law School. Alonso-Yoder is nationally recognized scholar on immigration legislation and the impacts of state, local and federal laws on immigrant communities. She specializes on the health policy of immigration. View commentary from Prof. Alonso-Yoder here:
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