{"id":20146,"date":"2025-07-11T11:34:53","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T18:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/?p=20146"},"modified":"2025-07-11T14:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T21:30:09","slug":"tears-tensions-and-a-turning-point-for-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/eri\/2025\/07\/11\/tears-tensions-and-a-turning-point-for-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"Tears, Tensions, and a Turning Point for Immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Tears, Tensions, and a Turning Point for Immigration<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n By<\/span>Dr. Kim Tabari, Researcher at USC Equity Research Institute<\/strong>\n \n July 11, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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The sound of grief and terror is not abstract, it\u2019s visceral. It\u2019s the echoes of screams outside workplaces, the cries of children in parks, the silence left behind after a family member disappears. In neighborhoods across this country, immigration enforcement has become a state-sanctioned practice with harmful consequences. Raids. Detentions. Deportations. Rubber bullets. People are being taken from their families and communities, treated in ways that undermine their dignity and humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know this fear intimately, though I didn\u2019t always understand it. I was born in Guyana, South America, and moved to the U.S. at 14 years old to reunite with my mother after seven long years apart. At the time, I didn\u2019t grasp the political weight of migration. I was a child doing what children do: adjusting to a new school, caring for my baby brother, helping out at home. Within a year of arriving in Brooklyn, we became U.S. citizens. I didn\u2019t understand the privilege we had acquired. I was too young to realize how many others would be denied that same protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Years later, I now find myself heartbroken and outraged. The trauma I witness in these times feels like a betrayal, as the forced removals of immigrants across this country have become a harmful, widespread policy. The current federal administration has issued a litany of Executive Orders under titles like <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u2014titles which <\/span>critics<\/span><\/a> argue are misleading and obscure the impact of such policies.<\/span> Rather than ensuring safety, these policies are separating families and leaving many with little hope. <\/span>This painful reality we are living through is not just a policy crisis, but a personal one felt by many communities being disrupted across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Deportation Is Personal<\/b><\/h3>\n

Deportation is not just about policy; it\u2019s about people. As a researcher, I know data tells a story. But the truth lies beyond the numbers. You can see it in Instagram reels, TikToks, and live videos shared by devastated families. According to The Deportation Data Project, over 105,000 people were deported between January 1, 2025 and June 11, 2025. These are mothers, fathers, daughters, and neighbors \u2013 suddenly taken from their communities by force.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Below is a list of birth countries of immigrants and the number of undocumented immigrants taken from the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Table<\/p>\n

Source: Deportation Data Project<\/a>. Note: Repeated removals of the same individual are excluded from the counts. Individuals can be returned or expelled at the border without appearing in this data.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And where is this happening? <\/span>Everywhere<\/b>. These numbers represent lives, each one a story of love, survival, and dreams now interrupted. I know we are all witnessing the pain of communities\u2014particularly in states like Texas, Florida, California, Arizona, Tennessee, and Georgia, where between 1000 – 7000 individuals by state were detained and deported. This is happening in every single state across the country.\u00a0 For example, where I live in Los Angeles, the flowermarts are empty, restaurants are closed and there is an eerie silence as you drive through once vibrant immigrant-occupied neighborhoods.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is TPS?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Many people thought they were safe because they have <\/span>Temporary Protective Status<\/span><\/a> (TPS), but sadly, this too is at stake for early termination. TPS is a humanitarian designation allowing individuals from certain countries to temporarily live and work in the U.S. It is a lifeline, not a luxury. According to <\/span>U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services<\/span><\/a> (USCIS), eligibility requires continuous presence and registration within a specific window. But now, many protections are expiring abruptly, leaving people without legal recourse.<\/span><\/p>\n

The federal government has chosen not to renew TPS<\/span><\/a> for thousands of individuals from countries facing political instability, violence, and humanitarian crises. Migrants from <\/span>Venezuela, Cameroon, Haiti, Ethiopia<\/b>, and others now face TPS expirations as early as July 2025, leaving people who have lived, worked, and raised families in the U.S. in legal limbo. Below is a list of countries\/islands and the date by which their TPS status expires.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Country of Origin<\/b><\/td>\nTPS expiration<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afghanistan<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nJuly 14, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Burma (Myanmar)<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nNov. 25, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cameroon<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nAug. 4, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
El Salvador<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nSept. 9, 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ethiopia<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nDec. 12, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Haiti<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nAug. 3, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Honduras<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nSept 8, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lebanon<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nMay 27, 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nepal<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nAug. 5, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nicaragua<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nJuly 5, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Somalia<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nMar. 17, 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
South Sudan<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nNov. 3, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sudan<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nOct. 19, 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Syria<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nSep. 30, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ukraine<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nOct. 19, 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Venezuela<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nApril 7, 2025<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yemen<\/span><\/a><\/td>\nMarch 3, 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/humanitarian\/temporary-protected-status<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

What Future Are We Building?<\/b><\/h3>\n

I carry two homes in my heart: the Guyana of my childhood and the America of my adulthood. My son, born in the U.S., has grown up within an immigrant household, shaped by our stories and struggles. We often talk about immigration\u2014not just as policy, but as lived experience. He knows this issue isn\u2019t abstract. His friends have felt its sting.<\/span><\/p>\n

What we are seeing now are the long-term impacts of trauma on an entire\u00a0 generation. Some of the children once held in detention are now seeing their parents, siblings, and friends disappearing from their lives. This is not the future we should accept for any child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But hope isn\u2019t lost. Here are 3 concrete ways we are building our future:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a01. Coalition Building<\/span>. Even in the face of immense pain and systemic violence, communities across California and the nation are rising with clarity, courage, and vision. We are not powerless and we are not alone.\u00a0 Coalitions like <\/span>We Are California<\/b><\/a> are leading with a bold demand: a state rooted in belonging, where everyone feels safe, can afford to live, thrives and contributes their fair share. Their call is not simply about policy change, it is a reimagining of what it means to live in a truly just and compassionate society.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Research and data analysis<\/span>. Research and data plays a critical role in shaping policy by enabling informed decision-making and ensuring that the lived experiences of impacted communities are acknowledged and validated. In California, many policy interventions and practices are grounded in robust, evidence-based research collected by a range of academic and community-based institutions. Among these, the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI) has been a leading source of disaggregated data that highlights systemic inequities. Below are selected findings from ERI\u2019s research related to immigration:<\/span><\/p>\n