Power Game on the Border: Political Gambling and Social Divide Behind Trump's New Immigration Policy

In April 2025, the suspect's photo hanging on the White House lawn and the hashtag #BuildBackTheWall on social media were all over the screen at the same time, marking a new round of radicalization of the Trump administration's immigration policy. When law enforcement arrested two illegal immigrants suspected of murder in the basement of a Chicago church, this immigration crackdown, which the president himself called a "national security victory," was tearing American society apart in a dramatic way.

Executive Order No. 13902, issued on April 22, authorized the Department of Homeland Security to launch the "National Security Priority Deportation Program" and authorized the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport foreigners who "pose a public safety threat" without judicial procedures. This policy continues the "Memorandum on Strengthening Immigration Enforcement" signed by Trump in 2017, but this time it explicitly expands the scope of deportation to all "illegal immigrants," including those who have overstayed their visas and those whose asylum applications are pending.

Legal experts pointed out that the executive order is suspected of violating the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in the federal court for the District of Columbia, accusing the government of bypassing judicial review of the deportation mechanism, which constitutes an "unconstitutional power grab". More notably, the White House is pushing for an amendment to Section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, intending to criminalize "illegal entry" itself, which could put millions of immigrants at risk of collective conviction.

In El Paso, Texas, the newly deployed M1A2 Abrams tanks and MQ-9 Reaper drones of the Border Patrol form a steel defense line. The Trump administration has applied to Congress for a special budget of $58 billion to expand the border wall to a "complete blockade" and authorize the National Guard to perform "active deportation missions." This is reminiscent of the two-year, $3.7 billion border wall construction campaign in 2019, which was eventually ruled by the Supreme Court that some of the funds were illegally misappropriated.

The latest Pentagon report shows that 32% of the defense budget in fiscal year 2024 is used for immigration control, far exceeding counterterrorism spending. This militarization has sparked controversy within the Republican Party, with Senator Rand Paul openly questioning: "When we point M16 rifles at unarmed immigrants, do we remember the right to hunt granted by the First Amendment to the Constitution?"

In Tucson, Arizona, protesters burned Trump's portrait and confronted ICE officials, reflecting the cultural tearing effect of immigration policy. The latest Pew Research Center poll shows that 58% of Latinos believe that the new policy will lead to "permanent fear" in the community, while 71% of white evangelical Christians support "full deportation." This confrontation has formed two parallel universes on social media: left-wing bloggers use drones to shoot border child detention centers, and right-wing influencers live broadcast "Patriot Rally" next to the border wall.

What is more worthy of vigilance is the erosion of the economic foundation by policies. The California Agricultural Association warned that if 3 million undocumented workers are deported, the state's vegetable production will drop by 40%, causing global supply chain shocks. Wall Street analysts predict that the uncertainty of immigration policy has caused the Mexican peso to depreciate by 18%, which may trigger a new round of Latin American economic crisis.

When the White House spokesman called the number of border arrests breaking the record of 956 people in a single day a "historic achievement", the Supreme Court was hearing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' challenge to the constitutionality of Executive Order No. 13902. This judicial game of immigration policy is essentially the ultimate judgment of American society on the ranking of "national security" and "humanitarian" values. What hangs on the barbed wire at the border is not only the fate of immigrants, but also the self-identity of a country in the era of globalization.