100 days of Trump's aggressive immigration overhaul

Summary

Post Reports: Episode Summary – "100 Days of Trump's Aggressive Immigration Overhaul"

Release Date: April 28, 2025
Hosts: Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi
Episode Title: 100 Days of Trump's Aggressive Immigration Overhaul
Description: This episode delves into the first hundred days of President Trump's second term, focusing on his administration's aggressive immigration policies. Hosts Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi, alongside immigration reporter Marianne Levine and correspondent Colby Ekowitz, unpack the achievements, controversies, and future implications of these policies.

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1. Milestone of 100 Days and Administration’s Achievements

The episode kicks off by marking President Trump's hundredth day in office, highlighting the administration's commitment to aggressive immigration reforms. Colby Ekowitz introduces the significance of this milestone, emphasizing the increased number of daily press conferences aimed at showcasing perceived successes.

Notable Quote:

• [00:02] Colby Ekowitz: "This week marks a major milestone in Trump's second term as president. Tuesday will be his hundredth day in office."

2. Trump's Hardline Immigration Policies: Successes and Challenges

Marianne Levine provides an in-depth analysis of the administration's immigration strategies. She outlines key actions such as the declaration of a national emergency at the border, attempts to eliminate birthright citizenship, and the use of the Alien Enemies Act to expedite deportations.

Notable Quotes:

• [01:20] Marianne Levine: "Trump, on his first day in office, announced a national emergency at the border... he has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used wartime authority, to basically speed up the process of mass deportations."
• [04:21] Marianne Levine: "There's a fear of the Trump administration. Trump has made it very clear... that's a huge part of their messaging."

3. The Reality Behind the Numbers: Border Crossings and Deportations

The discussion highlights a discrepancy between the administration's positive portrayal of border security and the complexities on the ground. While border crossings have dwindled, largely attributed to Trump's deterrence tactics, the administration struggles to meet its deportation targets.

Notable Quote:

• [02:35] Marianne Levine: "We've seen them hit near record lows in the last few weeks, last few months. So they're definitely touting that... but it's harder to hit the numbers that the Trump administration is seeking even as they try to tout the success of the border."

4. Controversial Deportations: Case of American Citizen Children

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the controversial deportation of three young American children alongside their non-citizen mothers. Levine details the events, legal challenges, and ethical concerns surrounding these cases.

Notable Quotes:

• [05:00] Colby Ekowitz: "We hear about these three young American citizens, children who were deported. How does this happen?"
• [07:35] Marianne Levine: "These are two separate families, both sent to Honduras... this raises a lot of legal concerns because the process happened very quickly."

5. Administration's Justification vs. Legal and Humanitarian Concerns

The Trump administration defends its actions by asserting that the mothers chose to deport with their children, countering accusations of family separation. However, legal experts and families argue that due process was compromised, and the option to keep children in the U.S. was not adequately presented.

Notable Quotes:

• [08:22] Tom Homan: "We removed children with their mothers, who requested the children depart with them. This was a parental decision."
• [09:18] Marianne Levine: "There's a strong suspicion that the government deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process."

6. New Executive Orders Targeting Sanctuary Cities

The administration announced two additional immigration-related executive orders. The first remains vague, promising to "unleash America's law enforcement" without specific details. The second targets sanctuary cities, aiming to pressure local jurisdictions to comply with federal immigration laws by threatening to publish non-compliant cities.

Notable Quotes:

• [12:32] Marianne Levine: "They haven't fully explained it yet... the second one is targeting sanctuary cities."
• [13:12] Marianne Levine: "This is intimidation... they're trying to say... they are trying every avenue possible to target undocumented immigrants."

7. Arrest of a Wisconsin Judge: A New Frontier in Immigration Enforcement

The episode covers the unprecedented arrest of a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge accused of obstructing federal immigration enforcement by protecting an undocumented immigrant. This move signals the administration's escalating measures against perceived obstacles in their immigration agenda.

Notable Quotes:

• [14:14] Marianne Levine: "The government accused her of intentionally misdirecting federal agents... charged with obstruction and concealing a person from arrest."
• [16:46] Marianne Levine: "We're seeing that tension play out... Republicans and Trump have bet on this being the issue that they're doing the best on."

8. Legal Battles and Constitutional Concerns

Levine discusses the broader legal implications of Trump's immigration tactics, including the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and its subsequent judicial pushback. The ongoing court cases, such as the one involving the deported two-year-old, underscore the constitutional tensions arising from the administration's policies.

Notable Quotes:

• [17:22] Marianne Levine: "We've seen how there have been mistakes made as they've rushed to remove people from the country... those are things that are only going to continue in the next 100 days."
• [09:55] Marianne Levine: "There's a May 16 court hearing to investigate this question, and I think we're gonna have to see where it goes from there."

9. Looking Ahead: The Next 100 Days

As the hundred-day mark approaches, Levine anticipates continued legal challenges, potential Supreme Court decisions on birthright citizenship, and further legislative actions aimed at bolstering immigration enforcement. The administration's focus on deportation numbers and detention capabilities remains a critical area to monitor.

Notable Quote:

• [17:46] Marianne Levine: "We'll be looking to see how the court handles that case and what the ruling might look like... there's no shortage of stories as we cover this policy."

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Conclusion

This episode of Post Reports offers a comprehensive examination of President Trump's first hundred days concerning immigration policy. Through detailed reporting and expert analysis, the hosts and guest Marianne Levine illuminate the complexities, controversies, and potential future developments of the administration's aggressive immigration overhaul.

For listeners seeking to understand the intricacies of current U.S. immigration policies and their ramifications, this episode serves as an essential resource, providing clarity and depth to a highly debated issue.

Transcript

[Colby Ekowitz]

This week marks a major milestone in Trump's second term as president. Tuesday will be his hundredth day in office. The Trump administration is holding a press conference every morning this week to highlight what they see as their biggest achievements.

[Marianne Levine]

Today we kick off 100 day week with a focus on the President's historic effort to secure our southern border.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Later this afternoon, Trump's press secretary, Caroline Levitt and border czar Tom Homan came ready to play up the administration's accomplishments. But some reporters were more focused on the recent controversies surrounding Trump's immigration policies, especially the three young American children who were sent to Honduras on Friday, along with their non citizen mothers who had crossed the border illegally. When asked about removing US Citizens, seemingly without due process, Homan doubled down.

[Tom Homan]

If you choose to have a US Citizen child, knowing you're in this country legally, you put yourself in that position, you put your family in that position.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Trump's hardline immigration stance is credited with helping him win the presidency a second time. But now a majority of Americans, 53%, are not happy with Trump's handling of the issue. That's according to a new Washington Post ABC News Ipsos poll. Immigration reporter Marianne Levine has been covering the White House's nonstop actions on immigration.

[Marianne Levine]

While President Trump, in his first 100 days has made it very clear that immigration is either his top policy priority or among his very top policy priorities. Trump, on his first day in office, announced a national emergency at the border. He basically eliminated the automatic right to birthright citizenship, or at least tried to. He sent migrants to Guantanamo who are alleged gang members. He has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used wartime authority, to basically speed up the process of mass deportations. So I think we've seen really a whole effort to reshape the immigration system, sometimes successful, sometimes not. We've seen how there have been mistakes made as they've rushed to remove people from the country. And I think those are things that are only going to continue in the next 100 days. But those are some of the big stories that we've been watching.

[Colby Ekowitz]

From the newsroom of the Washington Post. This is Post Reports. I'm Colt viakowitz. It's Monday, April 28th. Today I talk to my colleague Marianne Levine about how Trump is handling immigration enforcement. Marianne, hi. Thanks for joining me.

[Marianne Levine]

Hi, thank you for having me.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So, Marianne, the Trump administration held this press conference this morning about immigration policy. It has quite a celebratory tone. How does their kind of tone about immigration compare to the story that you've been reporting over the past 99 days.

[Marianne Levine]

Well, the story we've been seeing over the last 99 days is, of course, more complicated than what the Trump administration is presenting. It is true that border crossings have been at the lowest level in decades, and that is something that the Trump administration has really celebrated. It's worth noting that border crossings were already on a decline in the last year of the Biden administration. But we really have seen them hit near record lows in the last few weeks, last few months. So they're definitely touting that. And one major change we've also seen is the militarization of the border. So those are some of the big changes they've made to deter people from coming. But we've also seen that the numbers are not quite in line with what the administration needs to hit their target of 1 million deportations in a single year. So we previously reported that that's a goal that they have. The Trump administration is very focused on the numbers. And one thing to note is that deportation numbers were higher under Biden. But there is a complicated story there, and that's because the border under Biden saw record numbers of crossings. So that actually makes it easier to deport people because many of the deportations that are happening are people getting turned around at the border. So as a result, the border numbers are going to be significantly higher. But what's happening is because the border is very quiet right now, it's harder to hit the numbers that the Trump administration is seeking even as they try to tout the success of the border.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Is there a sense that border crossings are so low right now because people are scared of Trump and his policies?

[Marianne Levine]

That's definitely part of it. I think that there is a fear of the Trump administration. And Trump has made it very clear. And Kristi Noem, his Department of Homeland Security secretary, his four star Tom Homan, have had a very intense message of deterrence. And Tom Hom even made it very clear today that if you are in the country here legally, you will be prosecuted.

[Tom Homan]

I'd say from day one that if you enter this country legally, it's a crime.

[Marianne Levine]

And so they really are trying to take this hard line policy, and that's a huge part of their messaging. And that appears to be at least somewhat working for now.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And I feel like a big narrative that's been over their immigration policy is not just the number of people they've deported, but like how they're deporting them. Right. That they're deporting them in ways that people say are unlawful, inhumane. And I Wanted to unpack with you the biggest immigration story of this moment, which is we heard about these three young American citizens, children who were deported. How did this happen? I mean, how does it happen that US Citizens are deported? Can you walk me through what we know about their cases?

[Marianne Levine]

Yeah. So what we know so far is that basically these two families were in Louisiana. They were going in to their routine check in appointments with ICE in New Orleans, and they're part of a program where they can live in the community as long as they check in with immigration authorities. As they were going through this process, they were basically taken away and driven hours away to Alexandria, Louisiana, and were prevented from communicating with their families, according to their lawyers. What we know is there was a two year old who was deported. She was with her mother and had an 11 year old sibling. And there was also a 4 year old and a 7 year old with US citizenship who were deported alongside their mother. So these are two separate families, both sent to Honduras. And it raised a lot of legal concerns because the process happened very quickly. The Trump administration argues that it's the policy to keep the children with their mothers and the mothers wanted the children with them. But what we know is, at least in one of the cases, the father of the two year old tried to file an emergency petition, but it all happened so quickly. And so it goes to this broader question of due process and how quickly the administration is trying to remove people from the country. And when that happens, I think there's a lot of fear that mistakes get made.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So what we understand is they were there for a routine immigration proceeding that allows them to stay in the country even though they came in illegally or.

[Marianne Levine]

While they're going through proceedings.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Okay. Their children were born here and the mothers were gonna be deported. And so what the Trump administration is saying is that they had a choice. They could either, I guess, leave their kids in America or take them with. And the mothers in this case chose to take them with. And I guess we don't really know the details of how, what that conversation looked like.

[Marianne Levine]

Yeah, that is what the Trump administration is arguing, but the lawyers in the case are objecting to that.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Okay, and what are they saying?

[Marianne Levine]

They're basically saying that the mothers were not given the opportunity to have the other option.

[Colby Ekowitz]

I mean, I also read that one of these young children has stage four cancer and now is, you know, separated from their doctors and their medications. What do we know about that?

[Marianne Levine]

Basically what we know is that during detention, the four year old basically had no access to their medication or to the doctors while they were in custody. That's the extent of the information that we know right now.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Yeah, I guess we have no idea whether or not they have access to that now that they're in Honduras.

[Marianne Levine]

Correct.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So bringing it back to the press conference this morning, how was this situation addressed? Did reporters brought it up? Right. They asked the Trump administration to explain it. What did, what did they say?

[Marianne Levine]

I think we're seeing Homan really double down on this argument that it was the mother's choice to bring their children with them and that the Trump administration is not separating families.

[Tom Homan]

What we did is remove children with their mothers, who requested the children depart with them. This was a parental decision. Parental wanted, parent, parenting 101. The mothers made that choice. And I tell you what, if we didn't do it, the story today be Trump administration separating families again. No, we're keeping families together.

[Marianne Levine]

It's kind of an irony there because in the first Trump administration, they got a lot of scrutiny over family separation. So Homan is basically arguing that they're not doing that, that they're taking this approach of letting the children stay with their mothers and that they are acting on the mother's requests. So they're really doubling down on that argument.

[Colby Ekowitz]

So is there any recourse for the families to get the children back to America if that's ultimately what the families want?

[Marianne Levine]

I think we have to see where it goes. I know that there's a court hearing coming up in May for the case involving the two year old. Clearly, there's strong concerns from judges about how the Trump administration is approaching these deportations. And one of the judges who was examining the case with the two year old basically raised concerns about the process and about how he essentially said there was a strong suspicion that the government deported a U.S. citizen with no meaningful process. And so there's a May 16 court hearing to investigate this question, and I think we're gonna have to see where it goes from there.

[Colby Ekowitz]

After the break, we're gonna dig into some of the other controversial immigration actions that the Trump administration has taken recently. We'll be right back.

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[Colby Ekowitz]

So the White House announced this morning two more immigration related executive orders, which is how they've been largely doing immigration policy through executive orders. What do these new ones say?

[Marianne Levine]

So the first one, Caroline Levitt, the White House press secretary, said will unleash America's law enforcement. And so we have to kind of clarify what that exactly means.

[Colby Ekowitz]

But because they haven't said what that means.

[Marianne Levine]

They haven't. Yeah, they haven't fully explained it yet. So I think we have to, we have to wait and see what that announcement's going to look like later today. And then the second one is targeting what's known as sanctuary cities, which are basically municipalities that limit cooperation with the federal government when it comes to immigration enforcement. The Trump administration has made it very clear that they want to target these cities. And so basically, the second executive order is really targeting those cities and directing the attorney general and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that Levitt and White House officials claim have obstructed federal immigration laws.

[Colby Ekowitz]

And what would publishing such a list do?

[Marianne Levine]

I mean, I think a lot of.

[Colby Ekowitz]

This, it's like intimidation.

[Marianne Levine]

It's intimidation. Like, I think a lot of this is driven by fear. I think A lot of this is driven by the idea that the federal government, especially the Trump administration, thinks that they can get localities to cooperate by saying, we will target you if you don't work with us to enact this agenda. And I think we've seen a lot of different examples of that throughout the administration. This is not the first time they've talked about sanctuary cities, but I think that this is just another example of them really trying to say, and in some ways, in a performative way, for the public to tell them that they are trying every avenue possible to target undocumented immigrants.

[Colby Ekowitz]

I mean, these new orders, they seem to go around the people who the White House see as standing in the way of their ability to carry out their immigration enforcement and hoping that that kind of has a chilling effect. Which makes me think of this other story that that happened late last week, and that's the arrest of that judge in Wisconsin. Tell me what happened there.

[Marianne Levine]

So, basically, last week, FBI Director Kash Patel essentially announced the arrest of this Milwaukee County Circuit judge. And what the administration is accusing her is of intentionally misdirecting federal agen as they tried to detain an undocumented immigrant. And basically, in court filings, the government said that the judge sent federal agents away from the hearing and that she basically helped the man in question and his lawyer get out of the courtroom while this was happening. So these are the allegations she's facing, and she was basically charged with obstruction and concealing a person from arrest. And so I think this is a pretty extraordinary moment because I think we're seeing the extent to which the administration is willing to go after people who they don't think are compliant with their agenda on immigration. And I think this is yet another new example of this clash that we're really seeing between the judiciary and the administration. It's been really interesting covering this story because there's so many intersections with DOJ and the role DOJ is also playing in trying to enforce the immigration agenda. So I think it's obviously telling that Kash Patel was involved and announced this arrest. And I think it shows the extent to which so many different agencies of the federal government are involved in this effort to enact mass deportations and to go after people who are here illegally.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Yeah, I know that people were really outraged and maybe a little scared that this is the start of something fairly unprecedented, this idea that you could arrest a judge because he or she is not doing something that you feel aligns with your policies.

[Marianne Levine]

Yeah, I mean, I think there this got a lot of Criticism, especially from Democrats. And I think that there's, there is concern about, about the setting a precedent for future arrests. Caroline Levitt was asked about this at the White House press briefing today. That is a clear cut case of obstruction. You don't have to be a lawyer to understand that. And so anyone who is breaking the law or obstructing federal law enforcement officials from doing their jobs is putting themselves at risk of being prosecuted. Absolutely. I think that we're seeing the administration really view the courts as a major obstacle, and they've made that very clear that they are frustrated with the court system. And President Trump has often posted on Truth Social about his frustration with the judges and them standing in the way of his immigration agenda. And so.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Right. Calling them like activist judges.

[Marianne Levine]

Correct. Or radical judges or things like that. And I think we're really seeing that tension play out. And what's been really interesting about covering the story in the first 100 days is a lot of the questions about whether or not the US Is in a constitutional crisis really are tested through the lens of immigration policy. Because in some ways, Republicans and Trump have bet on this being the issue that they're doing the best on. And I think it's been interesting to see how that's played out. But it's also been the policy area where they've tested the legal system on broader questions that are not just immigration.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Right. You mentioned earlier the Alien Enemies act, which was another one where Trump, you know, used this and the court said, wait, I don't think you can. That applies here. And he did have to stop, but not before sending planes of people out of the country.

[Marianne Levine]

Yeah. There's a lot of broader questions where sometimes they're not just immigration questions, but they're broader legal questions as well. And I think we've seen that in so many different iterations.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Yeah. So, Marian, as we approach that hundred day milestone, it has been a crazy few months for you and all of your colleagues on the immigration team here at the post. But what does the next hundred days look like? Given what we've seen as the administration does these rushed deportations, removes legal safeguards. What do you think's next?

[Marianne Levine]

I mean, I think we're finding it's very hard to predict a lot of the questions that we're asking will maybe be answered by the courts, especially we have the birthright citizenship hearing that's coming up. That is a question that the Supreme Court's gonna be looking at in the next couple weeks. And so we'll be looking to see how the court handles that case and what the ruling might look like. But then we also have this broader question of what does the mass deportation effort actually look like. And one thing I'm watching is how Congress approaches the upcoming spending reconciliation package that they're trying to put together, which is going to really infuse an unprecedented amount of money in immigration enforcement, especially to ice. We're also watching how the administration deals with this question of detention space. But there's a lot out there, and I think there's no shortage of stories as we cover this policy.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Marianne, thank you so much.

[Marianne Levine]

Thanks, Colby.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Marianne Levine covers immigration for the Post. That's it for Post Reports. Thanks for listening. If you love this show, please leave a rating or review on Apple or Spotify to help other people discover it or send this episode to a friend. Today's show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was mixed by Shawn Carter. It was edited by Maggie Penman with help from Ariel Plotnick. Thank you to Christine Amario. I'm Colby Ekowitz. We'll be back tomorrow with more stories from the Washington Post.

[Marianne Levine]

I'm Molly Roberts.

[Caroline Levitt]

And I'm Drew Goins. Each Friday on Impromptu, we talk through the questions we can't stop thinking about.

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Why are companies really asking workers to come back to the office?

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Does boycotting a business actually work?

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Should we quit social media?

[Marianne Levine]

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[Colby Ekowitz]

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[Marianne Levine]

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