How Trump's immigration policy changes who gets arrested and detained

Summary

Podcast Summary: "How Trump's Immigration Policy Changes Who Gets Arrested and Detained"
Consider This from NPR
Release Date: April 11, 2025

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Introduction to Trump's Immigration Policy Shift

In this episode of NPR's Consider This, host Juana Summers delves into the profound changes brought about by former President Donald Trump's immigration policies. Promising the "largest deportation program in American history," Trump's administration has intensified the enforcement of immigration laws, significantly impacting not only undocumented immigrants but also legal residents and citizens.

Impact on Legal Immigrants

Llewellyn Dixon's Story

One of the most poignant examples highlighted is that of Llewellyn Dixon, a green card holder from Seattle who immigrated to the United States from the Philippines five decades ago. In February, Dixon and her niece, Madonna Cristobal, returned to Seattle. While Cristobal, a U.S. citizen, passed through customs without issue, Dixon was detained by Border Patrol officers after waiting in line for several hours (00:14).

Three months later, Dixon remains detained at ICE’s Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, awaiting her immigration hearing scheduled for July. The reason for her detention stems from a felony conviction for embezzling nearly $6,500 from her former employer over 20 years ago—a conviction for which she had pleaded guilty and paid a fine, never serving jail time. This case underscores how past legal infractions are now being leveraged to enforce stringent immigration policies, trapping individuals who have long been part of the community.

Ben Johnson on Policy Enforcement

Ben Johnson, the executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, comments on the administration's approach:
"There isn't a lot of explanation, there isn't a lot of consistency on what they're doing except trying to find any and every reason to prevent people from coming back into the United States." (01:35)

Johnson emphasizes the arbitrary and widespread nature of the crackdown, stating that it's not limited to typical immigration cases but extends to tourists and university students legally present in the U.S.

Targeting of Activists and Legal Professionals

Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention

The episode sheds light on cases like that of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and green card holder. Khalil, known for his pro-Palestinian activism, was detained in early March. The Trump administration accused him of engaging in "anti-Semitic and destructive protests," with White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt asserting:
"This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans." (01:45)

Khalil vehemently denies any anti-Semitic sentiments or support for Hamas, highlighting the administration's broad and often unfounded criteria for detentions.

Amir Makled’s Experience

A significant portion of the episode focuses on Amir Makled, a U.S. citizen and attorney. Makled was detained by border agents at a Detroit airport while returning from a family vacation in the Caribbean. He believes his detention was linked to his representation of a pro-Palestinian protester at the University of Michigan, where his client was charged for peacefully protesting the war on Gaza.

Amir Makled's Personal Experience

Detention and Interrogation

Makled recounts his harrowing experience:

"As soon as I got to the passport check line, the agent looked over to another agent and asked, is the TTRT team available?" (05:02)
"I realized it meant the Task Force on Terrorism... my heart fell into my stomach at that point." (05:02)

Upon being escorted to an interview room, Makled was confronted by a plainclothes officer who requested access to his phone, citing a federal statute that allows the confiscation of electronic devices at the border (06:06). Makled, asserting his rights as an attorney, refused to provide his phone, citing the confidentiality of his communications and privileged information.

When pressed, he reluctantly allowed the agents to view his contact list but resisted further intrusion into his personal and professional communications:

"Anybody that's in my phone is going to be a friend, a family member or a client. I'm not going to tell you if these folks are clients or not." (09:17)

Legal and Ethical Concerns

Makled questions the legitimacy of the agents' actions, pointing out the lack of probable cause or any genuine security threat:

"The purpose of searching my phone doesn't have anything to do with terrorism. There's only a chilling effect." (08:30)

He expresses concern over the broader implications for legal professionals and activists, fearing that such tactics could deter lawyers from taking on politically sensitive cases.

Community Support and Broader Implications

Contrary to the administration's intent to intimidate, Makled notes a surge in support from the legal community and the public:

"The outpouring support that I've received from members of the bar... is a showing that people are offended by this type of conduct." (10:16)

He underscores the constitutional protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment and warns against the precedent being set by targeting individuals based on their professional roles or political beliefs.

Conclusion: The Chilling Effect on Free Speech and Legal Practice

The episode concludes by highlighting the counterproductive nature of the Trump administration's immigration policies. Instead of suppressing dissent, the aggressive enforcement has galvanized support for affected individuals and raised alarms about civil liberties:

"If government agents can target a lawyer at the border, what's stopping them from doing to anyone who dares to speak out?" (10:54)

Juana Summers wraps up by acknowledging the ongoing resistance against these policies and the importance of public awareness in safeguarding democratic values.

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Notable Quotes:

• Amir Makled (02:54): "If government agents can target a lawyer at the border, what's stopping them from doing? To anyone who dares to speak out."

• Ben Johnson (01:35): "There isn't a lot of explanation, there isn't a lot of consistency on what they're doing except trying to find any and every reason to prevent people from coming back into the United States."

• Amir Makled (08:30): "The purpose of searching my phone doesn't have anything to do with terrorism. There's only a chilling effect."

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This episode of Consider This provides a critical examination of the far-reaching consequences of heightened immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, emphasizing the unintended victims and the erosion of civil liberties that accompany such policies.

Transcript

[Juana Summers]

During his second presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to carry out the largest deportation program the US has ever seen.

[Amir Makled]

On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.

[Juana Summers]

And true to his word, Trump's administration is arresting, detaining, and deporting immigrants without legal status. But as a part of the crackdown on illegal immigration, legal immigrants are getting caught up in the mix. There's Llewellyn Dixon, a green card holder from Seattle. She immigrated to the US from the Philippines 50 years ago, and in February, she and her niece returned to Seattle from the Philippines. They both waited in the same line for customs. Dixon's niece, Madonna Cristobal, a US Citizen, went through without a problem. Then Cristobal waited for her aunt and waited one hour, two or three hours. I started to worry, and then I'm like, oh, what the heck is going on? Dixon had been detained by Border Patrol officers. A few days later, she was transferred to ICE's Northwest Detention center in Tacoma. A month later, Dixon is still at that detention center. Her next immigration hearing is scheduled for July. The reason for Dixon's detention, A felony conviction for embezzling nearly $6,500 from the bank where she worked more than 20 years ago. @ the time, Dixon pleaded guilty and paid a fine. She never served any jail time. But now any past infraction can loom large as immigration authorities ramp up enforcement at airports and at border crossings.

[Amir Makled]

There isn't a lot of explanation, There isn't a lot of consistency on what they're doing except trying to find any and every reason to prevent people from coming back into the United States.

[Juana Summers]

That's Ben Johnson, the executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. But it's not just cases like Dixon. Tourists have been arrested and detained, and university students in the US Legally with visas are also being detained and arrested. Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil has gotten the most attention. He is a green card holder. He's a pro Palestinian activist and was detained in early march by U.S. immigration officials. The Trump administration has argued that Khalil has engaged in, quote, anti Semitic and destructive protests. Here's White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt speaking at a press briefing back in March. This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro terrorist organizations that have killed Americans. Khalil rejects the allegation of anti Semitism or that he supports Hamas. And then there's Amir Makled, a US Citizen and lawyer. Makled was detained by border agents at a Detroit airport as he returned from a family vacation in the Caribbean.

[Amir Makled]

If government agents can target a lawyer at the border, what's stopping them from doing? To anyone who dares to speak out.

[Juana Summers]

Consider this how is the Trump administration's immigration policy changing? Who is getting arrested and detained? Coming up, we hear from Amir Makled from npr. I'm Juana Summers. NPR informs and connects communities around the country, providing reliable information in times of crisis. Federal funding helps us fulfill our mission to create a more informed public and ensures that public radio remains available to everyone. Learn more about safeguarding the future of public media, visit protectmypublicmedia.org 99% of the U.S. population lives within listening range of at least one public media station and.

[Amir Makled]

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[Juana Summers]

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[Amir Makled]

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[Juana Summers]

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[Juana Summers]

It'S consider this from NPR. Among Amir Makhlid's clients is an activist who has been charged in connection with a pro Palestinian protest at the University of Michigan. Mackled said he believes that is the reason why he was stopped. He told me more of what happened when we spoke on Wednesday. So as I understand you were returning home from vacation with your family, then you were pulled aside by some federal agents. Pick up the story from there and just start to tell us what happened.

[Amir Makled]

Well, as soon as I got to the passport check line, the agent looked over to another agent and asked, is the TTRT team available? I didn't know what that acronym stood for, so I did a quick Google search. At that point, I realized it meant the Task Force on Terrorism, something along those lines. Tactical Terrorism Response Team is what the acronym was. And at that point, my gut just, you know, my heart fell into my stomach at that point. I was so, you know, concerned and worried. I looked over at my wife and I told her we're probably going to be stopped and detained and questioned. And so they eventually took me over to an interview room. My family was waiting for me anxiously, not knowing what was going on. And at then a plainclothes officer walks in and says, we know that you're an attorney and we know that you've been handling some high profile cases lately. And then I said, okay, well what can I help you with? And he said, we would like to look at your phone. And he handed me a pamphlet with a federal statute that says that at the border they're allowed to confiscate my phone for a number of days. And at that point I was just shocked that they wanted to take my phone.

[Juana Summers]

Well, let me ask you this. At that point, did you have any sense of why they wanted to see your phone? What did they tell you?

[Amir Makled]

Well, it was apparent to me at that point that they had already done their homework about me before I arrived because they knew that I was taking on some cases. He knew who I was and he knew where I was coming from and he knew I was an attorney. So it wasn't a random selection. They were prepared to talk to me and discuss things with me. And he was adamant that he wanted to see my phone.

[Juana Summers]

What did you do then? Did you give him your phone?

[Amir Makled]

No. At that point I said, listen, you know that I'm an attorney. Everything in my phone could be privileged information. I have emails that go back over 10 years. I have text messages with clients. I have all my court filings and my office filings are in my cloud, which is available on my phone. You're not getting full and unfettered access to my device. It's not going to happen. And so that puzzled this agent and he had to go to a supervisor. Supervisor comes back and says, here's a legal pad, here's a pen. Write down everything that you believe is privileged. We won't go through that. I looked at him with astonishment. How do you expect me to go through 10 years and more of information that's in my device and see, this is privilege and this isn't. It was a ridiculous conversation.

[Juana Summers]

You said in other interviews that I've heard that you believe that you were targeted because you were representing a pro Palestinian protester. You said that they seem to know who you were, they seem to know that you were an attorney. What led you to make the connection that this protester might have been the reason that you were detained, interrogated, they wanted your phone.

[Amir Makled]

This is the only piece of any high profile action that I'm involved in right now. This is the only one that we've been making a lot of noise about. Because in Samantha Lewis case, my client at the University of Michigan, they're criminalizing free speech. They're charging seven students with resisting and opposing police officers. Which are felonies. And all they were doing was engaging in peaceful protest about the war on Gaza. So that we've made a lot of noise about and that we're vigorously defending. Why else would they mention that I'm they that I know that you're engaging in high profile cases.

[Juana Summers]

I just want to note that NPR has reached out to Customs and Border Protection and at the time of our conversation, we've not yet heard back. But a CBP spokesman named Hilton Beckham told the Detroit Free Press, which you spoke to, that searches of electronic media have not gone up during the Trump administration. And I'm going to quote here, allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible. Your response?

[Amir Makled]

I'd say to them that, you know, what was the purpose of searching my device then if you know that I'm not a there's no probable cause, there's no warrant, there's no concern that I'm a threat to national security or anything of that nature. The purpose of searching my phone doesn't have anything to do with terrorism. There's only a chilling effect. And it's done to be intimidating, in my opinion, for the causes that I was engaging in. I'm standing up for students, I'm standing up for immigrants and political dissenters. And I think this was a way to try to dissuade me from taking on these types of cases.

[Juana Summers]

Ultimately, you did not consent to just hand over your phone, but if I understand correctly, you did at some point let them look at the contexts that are in your phone. Can you tell us a bit about that?

[Amir Makled]

Well, they kept threatening to take my device and they said they had the legal right to do so. So I didn't want to walk away from that meeting or interrogation or detention without my device in my hand. So I did acquiesce to them, allowing them to see the list of my contacts that's stored in my phone only. And they agreed with that. They said, okay, we'll look at your contact list and we'll go from there. So at that point they took my device for maybe seven or eight minutes and they came back. They apparently had downloaded my contact list and then began to ask me further questions about who contacts in my phone were. And that's when I said, no, this is getting into too much uncharted waters here. Anybody that's in my phone is going to be a friend, a family member or a client. I'm not going to tell you if these folks are clients or not, but that's all the information you're going to get.

[Juana Summers]

If this is part of a much broader effort to intimidate lawyers who work, whose work runs counter to administration priorities, I want to ask you, in the minute or so that we have left, is this working?

[Amir Makled]

No, I think it's doing the opposite effect. The outpouring support that I've received from members of the bar, not just in Michigan, but nationally and members of the community, is a showing that people are offended by this type of conduct. This is not what America is all about. We are a nation of laws. We have protections. We have amendments, the Fourth Amendment included, of your right to privacy, which includes not having your personal effects and papers be searched. And it's setting a terrifying precedent. If government agents can target a lawyer at the border, what's stopping them from doing to anyone who dares to speak out?

[Juana Summers]

We've been speaking with Michigan attorney Amir Macled. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Amir Makled]

Thank you for having me.

[Juana Summers]

This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlam and Briana Scott. NPR's Joel Rose contributed reporting. It was edited by Patrick Jaran Watananan, Courtney Dorning, Eric Westervelt and Nadia Lancy. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigun. And before we go, a word of thanks to our Consider this Plus listeners who support the show. You make it possible for NPR journalists to report the stories you hear on the show. Supporters also hear every episode without messages from sponsors. To learn more, visit plus.NPR.org It's Consider this from NPR. I'm Juana Summers at Planet Money.

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