Part III – A Personal Journey Through Soccer and Resettlement

by Bashir Mobasher

My interest in this project comes from something deeply personal. As an immigrant and a soccer player, I have lived the story I am telling. I started playing soccer in the United States around 2013 during my doctoral studies. While I had played the game as a child in Afghanistan, I left it behind  when I began preparations for the university entry exam. By the time I returned to it in Seattle, Washington, thousands of miles away, many years had passed.

I started my doctoral studies at the University of Washington School of Law in 2013. Pursuing a PhD was emotionally and mentally exhausting, wearing me down slowly. Between the isolation of doctoral work and the emotional toll of living far from home, I was looking for something that could help me breathe easier. I had also just gained some weight because I wasn’t very active physically. I carried a belly I wanted to get rid of. I knew I needed a remedy, something to refresh my mind and keep me active. That is when soccer returned to my life.

At that time, I was fortunate to be in a program with several other Afghan students. Many of them were pursuing master’s or PhD degrees and shared a love of soccer. Together, we quickly built our soccer community from scratch. We started small, just a few of us kicking a ball around. It did not take long before we had a team, as players from other communities began to join us. A few Indonesian students who lived in the same block, and were already our good friends, began playing with us regularly. Despite that, our team remained predominantly Afghan. However, as time passed and many of my Afghan teammates graduated or returned home, a few of us stayed behind, determined to keep playing.

I started joining pickup games, this time with people from all over the world, including American students, international scholars, and professionals. I began to remember their names, learn their stories, and share mine. We bonded over the game, but we ended up doing so much more together. I went to my first American Football match with them. We watched the 2014 World Cup and Champions League at pubs and movie theaters. Pickup soccer quickly became part of my routine. I would play late in the evening (around 9 pm) during weekdays and around noon on the weekends. Neither rain, nor snow, nor wind, nor harsh summer sun could break our commitment to the game. We showed up in soaked jerseys and with frozen fingers. Sweat and laughter would mix under cloudy skies or blazing heat. It was never about perfect conditions. It was about showing up, again and again, because something bigger than the weather pulled us together.

At one point, some friends invited me to join a local coed league. That was a new experience. Up until then, I had mainly played with male players. This new team felt even more like a family. After our games, we often went out together for food or bubble tea. I remember this team as the Bubble Team because of our collective love for bubble tea. Some of the players were into video games. I never joined them for that part, because I was too cautious about getting hooked and losing focus on my studies, but I loved watching their joy and being part of their world.

When I returned to Afghanistan after completing my PhD, I encouraged friends to form a team and continued playing until I moved back to the United States. Upon returning to Virginia in 2021, I wasted no time. I joined a pickup team and immediately made friends with players from the US, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Argentina, and many other places. During the games and afterwards, we teased each other, shared stories, and celebrated our goals and achievements. Now that my leg is injured, I am unable to play soccer for a while, but I still set aside time to meet with fellow players.

Soccer gives me more than a workout. It gives me joy, purpose, and community. The moment I step onto the field, it feels like entering a different world, a world full of energy, laughter, and healing. It is the best therapy I could have ever asked for. After every game, I return home recharged and ready to give my best to my research and writing.

Dr. Bashir Mobasher is a scholar of constitutional law and identity politics, specializing in governance and institutional design in democratic societies. He currently teaches at the American University Department of Sociology and New York University–Washington, D.C. Mobasher serves as the President of the Afghanistan Law and Political Science Association (in Exile), a network of Afghan academics advancing research, publication, and women’s education inside Afghanistan.

He earned his Ph.D. in Law from the University of Washington in 2017. His recent book is entitled Constitutional Law and the Politics of Ethnic Accommodation.

Part II – How Soccer Creates Belonging for Displaced Youth

by Bashir Mobasher

Hajar Abulfazl is an Afghan soccer player whose journey speaks to the quiet power of the game. She recently coached a middle school team in Baltimore to remarkable success. When we visited her on the field, her team scored numerous goals against a strong opponent. Hajar was hopeful that her team could make it to the final. Beyond her own recreational play, she coaches at Soccer Without Borders (SWB). This organization understands what soccer can do for a young person who is learning to navigate a new life.

Soccer Without Borders recognizes that the field can be a place of belonging for those who feel displaced by conflict, migration, and cultural transition. Its mission is simple . Use soccer to create inclusion, growth, and community. The organization serves refugee and immigrant youth, as well as young people who have been pushed to the margins and have little access to extracurricular opportunities.

The program began in Oakland, California, and has grown into a network with sites in several states as well as in Uganda and Nicaragua. Through partnerships with elementary, middle, and high schools, SWB invites students into a space where the message is clear. You are not alone. Hajar says that this is the heart of their work, a promise carried from practice to practice. It is here that around thirty Afghan players, boys and girls, meet hundreds of students from around the world and begin to form a new community. 

Soccer Without Borders offers English classes, which Hajar describes as essential for integration and confidence. For young refugees, language can be the first barrier to social life, so these classes allow students to participate more fully not only in the game but in everyday life.

Hajar speaks with warmth about her coaching job. It fulfills her, not just financially but emotionally and socially. When she first arrived in the United States, she felt isolated. Soccer helped her make friends, find support, and build confidence. It became her way into a new community. Her passion is community building. She says she has no interest in politics. She visits schools, talks to students, encourages them to join the program, and explains how SWB supports families beyond the pitch. They provide opportunities, summer camps, events, and assistance when families face hardship.

Students often tell her, “Coach Hajar, thank you for bringing us out of our homes and away from the screens to play soccer and have fun.” Their joy becomes her joy. In one instance, she took her team to Washington DC to watch a significant match: Washington Spirit vs. Chicago Stars. For most of the students, it was their first time entering a stadium. They watched the game with wide eyes, shouting and cheering with a passion that could only come from a group seeing the sport in a new light. They thanked her for an experience they would remember for a very long time.

Hajar and colleagues have taken players hiking, camping, and on picnics. These outings create friendships that thrive outside school and practice. They strengthen the sense of belonging that so many newly arrived families desperately seek.

The team also steps in during moments of crisis. Hajar told me about a family whose house burned down. Soccer Without Borders acted immediately, gathering clothing, kitchen supplies, and other essentials. They found the family a temporary home with another Afghan household. Later, when the family moved into a new place, the organization helped raise funds and provided appliances to help them begin again. It was a reminder that being a part of a team is much larger than what happens on the field.

Soccer Without Borders also creates economic opportunities. Students who stay with the program for two years and show commitment, strong character, and a good understanding of the game can become paid referees. One beneficiary of this program was a young girl named Gaga. When she first arrived, she knew nothing about soccer. Under Hajar’s guidance, she became one of the strongest players on the team. Eventually, she became a referee. Hajar has been writing letters of recommendation to support her college applications, hoping she will one day play at the collegiate level.

But the work is not without challenges. Hajar and her colleagues have had to address issues tied to gender in sports. In the beginning, the program encouraged mixed teams, but some of the boys began sidelining female players to gain more playing time, overlooking the girls’ talent. Several girls expressed concern and frustration. In response, Soccer Without Borders created separate teams for girls. The number of girls increased significantly, and many began encouraging other young women to join. Their confidence grew and their teams  expanded.

Hajar’s story, and the story of Soccer Without Borders, shows how soccer becomes much more than a sport. It becomes a lifeline, a classroom, a community, a second home. It brings young people out of isolation, gives them tools to rebuild their sense of self, and reminds them that they are seen. And above all, it shows that in soccer, as in resettlement, no one scores alone.

Dr. Bashir Mobasher is a scholar of constitutional law and identity politics, specializing in governance and institutional design in democratic societies. He currently teaches at the American University Department of Sociology and New York University–Washington, D.C. Mobasher serves as the President of the Afghanistan Law and Political Science Association (in Exile), a network of Afghan academics advancing research, publication, and women’s education inside Afghanistan.

He earned his Ph.D. in Law from the University of Washington in 2017. His recent book is entitled Constitutional Law and the Politics of Ethnic Accommodation.

Part I – Soccer, A Perfect Resettlement Game

by Bashir Mobasher

As Pelé once said, “Football is a reflection of life. It has all the elements: joy, sorrow, drama, surprise, failure, success.” Just like resettlement, it comes with red cards and unfair fouls. These setbacks feel both personal and structural. But it also brings assists, breakthroughs, and goals, small victories that lift the spirit and remind players they are not alone. And when those moments arrive, the celebrations are never solitary because in both soccer and resettlement, no one scores alone.

Although soccer is the most popular sport in the world, its profound social significance, especially its role in shaping identity and supporting immigrant resettlement, remains underexplored. Most research focuses on top leagues, famous athletes, or massive fan cultures (Giulianotti and Robertson 2009; Foer 2004). But the most telling stories happen far from the spotlight: in community parks and weekend leagues. At this purely communal and non-transactional level, soccer becomes something else entirely. It becomes a way to cope, to connect, and to begin again. For refugees and immigrants, it becomes a space where healing begins and where identity is slowly rebuilt (Bačová 2022; Armstrong and Giulianotti 2004; Refugee Council of Australia 2010).

Unlike formal resettlement services, soccer works without funding, programming, or bureaucracy. And yet, it provides almost every tool that resettlement demands. Its psychological effects are especially significant in a community like Afghanistan, where therapy often carries stigma or is simply unavailable. Soccer, by contrast, is a space of movement and belonging. It brings rhythm back to the day. It helps players breathe easier. Socially, it builds bonds and networks. Economically, it creates opportunities.

Thanks to the Humanities Truck Fellowship, I was able to engage with Afghan and international soccer players across the DMV area. This episode focuses on my time with Itehad FC, a team based in Northern Virginia. While most players are of Afghan origin, the team also includes players from Nigeria, Palestine, and Tajikistan. Together, they compete in semi-official leagues. However, for Itehad FC, soccer is about more than wins and losses. 

For many Itehad players, the field was the first place they felt welcomed in the United States. Some had played soccer back home before migration disrupted their lives. Others, like Daud Sakhizada, had never played before. He joined the team simply to make friends. Like most others, he was invited by someone he knew. Once he arrived, he stayed. The field became a place where the weight of loneliness began to lift and where the burdens of daily life felt, for a moment, lighter.

Zabi Hamdam and Farhad both shared with me how soccer has become a kind of healing session, especially after difficult days. Zabi once told me he counts the hours until he can get back to the field. And once he is there, the challenges of the day begin to fade. He smiles, passes, dribbles, and jokes with his teammates. It is remarkable how something so ordinary can become a source of such relief. They may play hard, but in doing so, they breathe a little easier.

The connections do not end with the game. Players stay linked through WhatsApp and Messenger, where conversations extend  beyond scheduling matches. They share jokes, check in on one another, plan get-togethers, and exchange news, including immigration updates. Most players are now citizens, but they still share resources that help their broader communities. 

Their bonds extend into homes and holidays. Every Thanksgiving, Farhad opens his door to teammates and their families. Few images capture resettlement better than immigrants celebrating an American holiday with people they met in the field. This year, they were unable to gather due to scheduling conflicts, but the tradition remains alive in memory and the promise of celebrating it together next year. They also come together for Eid, Nowruz, Christmas, and July Fourth, says Zabi Hamdam. Each gathering is a quiet act of community building.

Beyond holidays, these friendships spill into everyday life. Teammates take turns visiting one another’s homes. They go on road trips, camp together, hike trails, and sometimes just gather in someone’s living room to talk. Sometimes they gather with their families. Sometimes it’s just the boys. In the summer of 2025, the team even planned a trip to Arizona to visit a former teammate who helped establish Itehad. Although the trip did not happen, the effort spoke volumes. They were honoring a shared past, held together by memory and loyalty.

On October 26, 2025, Fawad Rahimi hosted the team to watch El Clásico at Huqqa Lounge. For many players, major matches like this—whether El Clásico or a Champions League final—are sacred rituals. Fawad was more excited than anyone. These gatherings, filled with arguments over players and teams, shared plates of food, and familiar laughter, reflect a profound aspect of the Itehad community. They carry forward a long-standing Afghan tradition: one person hosts, and everyone else comes as a guest. No splitting bills. No formalities. Just hospitality and kinship.

The team also functions as an economic support system. Jobs are found. Services are exchanged. Networks grow. Hoshang Jawan hired a teammate to do flooring in his home. It was not just about labor, but about trust built on the field. Zabi Hamdam plans to do the same. Zabi, who studied law at Alberoni University before migrating to the United States, changed career paths to survive. Now he mentors others, including Hoshang, who found a better job after following Zabi’s advice. These exchanges are more than practical. They are profoundly relational.

The story of Itehad FC is not just a sports story. It is a migration story. A story of finding people, building lives, and claiming space in a new country. What brought these players together was not just the love of the game. It was the chance to be seen, valued, and belong. Soccer offered them more than exercise. It gave them rhythm and a second home. For these players, soccer is not simply something they do. It is how they live, resettle, and begin again together. 

Dr. Bashir Mobasher is a scholar of constitutional law and identity politics, specializing in governance and institutional design in democratic societies. He currently teaches at the American University Department of Sociology and New York University–Washington, D.C. Mobasher serves as the President of the Afghanistan Law and Political Science Association (in Exile), a network of Afghan academics advancing research, publication, and women’s education inside Afghanistan.

He earned his Ph.D. in Law from the University of Washington in 2017. His recent book is entitled Constitutional Law and the Politics of Ethnic Accommodation.

By Maria Muradyan 

Most of the narratives about immigration are wrong. They are simplistic, outdated, and dangerous. — Ernesto Castañeda.  

This quote carries particular weight here in Washington, DC, where harmful rhetoric and harsh policy are produced just a couple of blocks away from immigrant communities who face its consequences directly. For decades, the topic of immigration has been at the forefront of American political discourse. Americans on opposite ends of the aisle have consistently disagreed on immigration policy and whether or not we as a country have a responsibility to accept people who cross the border and enter America “illegally”. Opinions on the topic, though always polarizing, have transformed and intensified drastically in the last decade, with the election of President Donald Trump and the emergence of the “MAGA” movement. The slogan “Make America Great Again” can be most often associated with right-wing populism, conservative nationalism, but perhaps most famously, a narrative that casts Latin American immigrants as threats to national security and as a strain on American society. 

The current administration’s rhetoric and policy on immigration have single handedly created one of the most polarized political environments in American history. As the political climate has shifted, these ideological divisions have fueled a wave of widespread misconceptions and stereotypes about Latino immigrants, who they are, why they come, and the impact they have on American society. These harmful misinterpretations not only distort public attitudes but also pave the path for harsh immigration policies and are used to justify the unlawful and inhumane deportation practices carried out by ICE in Washington, DC, and across the nation. 

In an effort to better understand these stereotypes and the effects they have on victims and their families, I conducted an interview with Dr. Ernesto Castañeda, a migration scholar, professor, and Director of Immigration Lab at American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies. Dr. Castañeda is a leading voice on how misconceptions shape the lived experiences of immigrant communities in DC, and how enforcement, family separation, and uncertainty shape the lives and psychological well-being of youth. 

The first false assumption he addressed is the belief that America has become ‘overflooded with immigrants’. Dr Castañeda pointed out that actual population data proves just the opposite. According to a Pew Research study conducted in 2023, immigrants make up roughly 15% of America’s population (52% being from Latin America). Not only this, but out of the total number of individuals not born in America, undocumented immigrants made up a mere 27% (Pew Research 2025). Locally, immigrants constitute about the same share of the D.C. population as they do nationally. All immigrants make up about 13% of the population, out of which 11.3% identify as Latino (American Immigration Council 2025) 

When looking at data from the 2024 election year, an analysis of tens of thousands of statements made by Trump showed that he repeated the sentence ” [South American countries are] emptying out their prisons and their mental institutions into the United States ” or similar ones over 560 times during his most recent re-election campaign (Marshall Project 2024). Dr. Castañeda explains how these repeated claims are what perpetuate stereotypes such as Latinos are ‘dangerous criminals, ‘ invading the country, and ‘using up public resources. ’ When average Americans, with little knowledge or exposure to immigrants, hear these statements repeatedly, they will inevitably begin to accept them as facts. However, long-term empirical studies show us otherwise. Research analyzed by the Journal of Criminology over the span of 24 years showed that no evidence exists that links undocumented immigrants to the number of violent crimes in the country. Not only this, but this study found that increases in the immigrant population within the states correspond to decreases in the prevalence of violence and crime (Light & Miller, 2018). 

According to Castañeda, current narratives fail to take into account that the vast majority of Latino immigrants come to America to ‘study, work, contribute to science, to work in hospitals, to get married, and that is rarely part of the story’. Furthermore, as he explains both in his book Immigration Realities and in our interview, immigrants actually rely on public assistance at lower rates than U.S. citizens, and this is true even for their U.S born children. They also play an essential role in keeping the economy and population growing. Immigrants contribute to scientific progress, cultural creativity, and the continuation and spread of American ideas and culture. Any evolving society needs new people to sustain itself, and throughout history, immigrants have taken on that role in the United States. 

While these negative narratives dominate the national conversation, their most immediate impact becomes visible in places like DC, where families must confront fear and instability while navigating their day to day lives. The Shrine of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic Church, which is just a short bus ride from the White House, has long served as a place of worship for the Catholic Latin American community in DC. However, in the last several months, it has become a hub for ICE attacks this October. The Associated Press reports that over 40 members of the parish have been recently deported as churchgoers are ‘fearful to leave their homes, get food, medical care or attend Mass’. The Archdiocese of Washington describes these mass deportations as “instruments of terror” for the Latino community of DC. The climate in the city remains especially volatile for mixed status families, who must live with the fear that their loved one will be detained while doing their daily tasks. This became a reality for one member of the Sacred Heart Church whose husband was detained by ICE while selling fruits and vegetables at the family owned fruit stand. She says, “ It’s been a very difficult, bitter month of crying and suffering…our lives changed forever one day to the next” (Associated Press, 2025) 

Stories like these are not limited to Sacred Heart but are a reflection of the unique set of challenges that mixed-status families face in DC and across the nation. These effects are already being felt in DC high schools and universities, where Dr. Castañeda notes the current political environment is having consequences on youth in these mixed status families. He states, “Youth are afraid for themselves and are afraid for their families, for their friends, for the communities…that makes it harder to focus on school, we see that in the universities, we see that with colleagues, we see that with staff members who have undocumented family members”. A 2024 study published by the Journal of Latinx Psychology followed a sample of youth who are US citizens but lived in mixed status families. They discovered that exposure to current violent immigration enforcement, such as witnessing a parent or loved one deported, significantly increases severe anxiety, fear, and depression among the sampled youth. These psychological effects extended beyond the immediate family members, as the trauma was felt even when enforcement actions targeted people in their community rather than someone directly inside the home. Their study also confirmed that anti-immigration stigma quickly becomes internalized, as adolescents in the study reported feeling ashamed of their background, immigrant family, and language (Lieberman et al., 2024). 

These effects could be expected to be felt especially strongly in DC due to the high prevalence of Latino youth immigrants who arrived a decade prior. Beginning in 2014, DC saw a large surge in unaccompanied youth, between the ages of 13-18, who came to America to unite with their parents, grandparents, or extended families. Castañeda explains that since this group of youth has reached a legal adult age, ICE agents might be ‘looking for an excuse to deport them’. As ICE revisits these old cases of unaccompanied minors, they are also using this as an opportunity to track down their immediate and extended families as well as their sponsors. Subsequently, the result is a painful cycle in which youth who once struggled to reunite with their family, once torn apart by borders, must now live in psychological torment and fear of losing each other once more. Current immigration enforcement practices are undoubtedly a form of psychological violence that produces hypervigilance, fear, and depression, and will cause long term trauma in immigrant communities. 

Looking ahead, it is clear that America is in dire need of immigration reform, one that is based on facts, research, and empirical evidence, rather than stereotypes. However, Castaneda notes that the general public is not to blame, as one cannot expect regular Americans to understand topics as complex as immigration law. Rather, this responsibility falls on our lawmakers who must put aside partisanship and focus on creating solutions that maintain the dignity of immigrants, while addressing the realities of the current day border.  

Castañeda explains the best form of immigration reform would be what he calls “generous amnesty”, or a broad pathway to legalization. Individuals and families who have been living in America for an extended period of time and have built entirely new lives must be given a path to citizenship. This is both a moral imperative but also it is a sentiment that, according to him, is largely supported by most Americans on both sides of the aisle. Recent Gallup polls confirm this fact, as 64% of Republicans and 91% of Democrats classify immigration as a positive (Gallup, 2025). A generous amnesty does not mean an open borders concept. Rather, it is a way to create legal paths to citizenship, so that migrants have other options rather than resorting to crossing the border. It is only natural that individuals and families desperate for survival will resort to the only option available to them.  

Second, the US is becoming an aging nation with a retiring workforce and a declining birth rate. With the declining population and lowered birth rates, many key industries, such as agriculture, are having projected worker shortages, unable to meet the labor demands. The Economic Policy Institute finds that “Achieving historically ‘normal’ GDP growth rates will be impossible, unless immigration flows are sustained” (Bivens 2025). Employment based immigration is one way through which the government can offset this issue. Granting a greater number of H-1B and H-2B visas can help balance these effects by bringing in younger and eager individuals who are ready to work in these essential positions. 

In conclusion, data, decades of research, the realities in DC, and Dr. Castañeda’s expertise make one point unmistakably clear. The narratives that dominate our national conversation about immigration are misinformed, outdated, and harmful to those who live with its consequences daily. The political rhetoric from our nation’s leaders creates instability, fear, and psychological trauma in immigrants while simultaneously distorting the public’s perception of the issue. Research continues to show that immigrants make America stronger, enriching society, unifying communities, and bettering the economy. Dr. Castañeda’s work reminds us that looking ahead, we must demand from our lawmakers a change that is rooted in the recognition of these principles and the creation of dignified paths to citizenship.  

As I reflect on my childhood and the little girl I was when I first arrived in America, I see no difference between myself and another little girl today arriving from El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, Cuba, or Guatemala. We all carried the same fears of an unfamiliar place, the same uncertainty, the same dreams of a brighter, better future in this country. The only difference between the treatments we received was the country we came from and the political implications that country brought with it. It is time that we begin to approach immigration with greater empathy, remembering that we ourselves, or our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, once stood in these very same shoes. Latino immigrants have positively shaped this nation from the beginning of its history, and they continue to do so today. These facts are unmistakable, the human suffering is devastating, and the need for humane immigration reform has long been overdue. 

Maria Muradyan is a senior at UCLA studying Political Science with a strong interest in American politics and public policy. She participated in UCLA’s UCDC program in Washington, DC. Her interests include immigration policy and community advocacy, with a particular emphasis on how political institutions and policy frameworks shape social and economic outcomes. Through her research and writing, Maria aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of contemporary policy debates and their real-world implications. 

References 

Castañeda, Ernesto (2025, November 21st), Personal Interview on Immigration. 

Geiger, A. (2025, August 21). What the data says about immigrants in the U.S. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/08/21/key-findings-about-us-immigrants/  

Immigrants in the District of Columbia – American Immigration Council. (2025). American Immigration Council. https://map.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/locations/district-of-columbia/?utm_source=chatgpt.com  

The Marshall Project. (2024, October 21). Fact-checking Over 12,000 of Donald Trump’s Statements About Immigration. The Marshall Project. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/10/21/fact-check-12000-trump-statements-immigrants 

Light, M., & Miller, T. (2018). Does Undocumented Immigration Increase Violent Crime? Criminology, 56(2), 370–401. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12175  

Henao, L. A., & Stanley, T. (2025, October 27). Immigration crackdown sows fear among Catholic church community in US capital. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/immigration-crackdown-catholic-church-washington-874e6deca9e54a4e14081c63adca7718  

Jamile Tellez Lieberman, Dsouza, N., Valdez, C. R., Pintor, J. K., Weisz, P., Carroll-Scott, A., & Martinez-Donate, A. P. (2024). Interior immigration enforcement experiences, perceived discrimination, and mental health of U.S.-citizen adolescents with Mexican immigrant parents. Journal of Latinx Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000263  

Saad, L. (2025, July 11). Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated. Gallup.com; Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/692522/surge-concern-immigration-abated.aspx  

The U.S.-born labor force will shrink over the next decade: Achieving historically “normal” GDP growth rates will be impossible unless immigration flows are sustained. (2025). Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/the-u-s-born-labor-force-will-shrink-over-the-next-decade-achieving-historically-normal-gdp-growth-rates-will-be-impossible-unless-immigration-flows-are-sustained/?utm_source  

One Year into Trump 2.0, Some Immigration Myths are Shattering, but Some of the Big Lies from the 2024 Trump Campaign Continue

By Ernesto Castañeda, PhD

One year into Trump’s second administration, significant developments have reshaped U.S. immigration policy. This piece examines key changes and events, clarifies factual misunderstandings, and analyzes how immigration has been framed and discussed in media coverage and political commentary.

Biden Did Not Have an Open Border

It is factually wrong to claim that “Biden had an open border policy and welcomed a record number of undocumented immigrants.” Although this claim is frequently repeated, it is misleading. Following the COVID-19 Pandemic, the U.S., along with the rest of the world, closed its borders for months. Under the pretense of public health, Title 42 was used to block access to asylum at the border. Thus, many individuals seeking asylum, attempting to reunite with family members, or workers reporting to jobs in the United States were trapped en route. Ultimately, a lot of people were forced to wait in Mexico for their opportunity to request asylum, and hundreds of thousands of people were deported from the border shortly after entry. 

Interestingly, after the end of the pandemic and the eventual lift of Title 42, members of the Biden administration came up with creative solutions to deal with a border surge — which again was not caused by the Biden administration but was a by-product of the pandemic and the terrible political, economic, and security conditions across much of Latin America and the Caribbean. In response, the Biden administration implemented the use of the CBP One mobile application, an app developed during the first Trump administration, which allowed individuals to obtain a spot in line to present themselves at border ports of entry for an orderly metered process to enter and request asylum. This was not a promise that all of them would be granted asylum or allowed to stay, but it did allow them to start their legal process. 

There were technical problems with this trial app, and in practice, it amounted to an online algorithmic lottery that created competition among hundreds of thousands of people for appointments. Nevertheless, it was an improvement from sleeping in camping tents during the winter while in line at border entrances in Mexico, or having notebooks where people wrote their names to hold their place in line on a first-come, first-served basis. The CBP One app also generated data on who sought to enter the country and on those permitted to enter. 

Other alternatives to detention, such as ankle bracelets and other tracking apps, allowed the U.S. government to identify newcomers and track their whereabouts. These tools have been used by ICE under the current Trump administration to locate and deport individuals who entered legally under these programs. As I said following Trump’s election, ICE agents would be tempted to detain and deport these easy-to-find immigrants in temporary or between immigration statuses in order to fulfill quotas while inflating the numbers of “dangerous” deportees.

Given hemispheric geopolitics, the Biden administration also created a legal program, known as CHNV, for certain people with family or contacts in the US who could offer financial support if needed and vouch for them to enter the U.S. legally through airports from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, to apply for asylum. These new programs were created for populations from countries to which the U.S. was sympathetic, and because these countries would not accept deportations. These programs shifted what could have been undocumented immigration flows into technically legal immigration flows. These new arrivals quickly received work permits so that they could work legally. This system became a lifeline for the U.S. economy and a lifeline for essential workers, allowing the U.S. economy and society to recover faster from the negative effects of the COVID pandemic.

Images of lines at the border and people sleeping in the streets of El Paso and in front of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City after the busing of immigrants and the unfortunate statements from New York’s Mayor Adams seemed to make these arrivals unmanageable, but as we have researched at The Immigration Lab, new arrivals have managed to find jobs to pay for the housing, food, and other expenses and even send some money to family in their places of origin. These individuals enter with permission from the government, which knows who and where they are. They are not undocumented nor “illegal.”

The Biden administration deported hundreds of thousands of people from the border, and people from Mexico and many other countries were not allowed in. 

The Biden administration actively helped individuals fleeing crises in Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, as well as those displaced from violent conflict in Ukraine and Afghanistan. Most people were coming into the U.S./Mexico border, raising their hands, waving, presenting themselves to authorities at the border, giving their information, and then following the procedures and instructions that they were given. Many, but not all, of them were then legally allowed into the country, granted work visas soon after staying a few days on the streets of host cities like El Paso, New York City, or Washington, DC. The great majority of the new arrivals eventually found places to rent and obtained jobs in the broader economy. Today, many are either still working or have been deported with no legal grounds or reasons beyond fulfilling ICE quotas to reduce the number of people of color born abroad.

Any serious discussion of immigration must take into account the barriers preventing people from returning and rebuilding a life in their country of origin, including instability, political repression, and economic hardships in countries like Venezuela and Haiti. 

Claims that the Border is Now Secured 

Border communities in the United States have long been safe, as documented in our book “Immigration Realities.” It is true that fewer people are arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking entry, but this is not purely a Trump effect.  There are five main reasons for this: 

1) The pandemic created a bottleneck influx of immigrants that eventually eased during the second part of the Biden administration. The programs discussed above (CBP One and CHNV) onboarded quickly those people who had been waiting at the border for years before. These numbers had already begun to decrease in the last months of the Biden administration due to policy changes and the organic leveling off from the bottleneck and pent-up demand. 

2) There was lower demand for people from Ukraine and Afghanistan to enter through the border. 

3) Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, and Colombia were pressured by the U.S. to make it even harder to cross the Darien Gap and to get close to the U.S./Mexico border. Many of these countries used their military to control, dissuade migration, and deport people, often without due process. As a result, new arrivals stopped.

4) On January 20, 2025, Trump declared a national emergency at the border and sent the military to certain areas of the border. 

5) People from Latin America are largely no longer arriving seeking to apply for asylum because, contrary to international and U.S. law, people are not allowed to enter the country by applying for asylum at the borders. Title 42 conditions have become chronic. These immigration policies, along with the strong campaign rhetoric, dissuaded many from entering the country, whether illegally or legally.

At his January 20, 2026, press conference, Trump compared his desire for the U.S.-Mexico border to that of North Korea. Likewise, in order to carry out these mass deportations quickly, authoritative actions of going against civil liberties are needed, as seen in Minnesota. He also boasted that “the border is secure” and with “no legislation” on the topic. 

For those concerned about “chaos at the border,” or upset that some new migrants were entering with permission at the border while others could not previously, do not worry. Most of the new arrivals have lost their legal status; many have been detained or deported, or are in the process of moving back. Their absence will have negative consequences for the U.S. employers, neighbors, and communities that relied on them. 

All Immigrants Are Criminals

Trump promised he would deport “the worst of the worst.” Many voters, and even some immigrants themselves, supported and voted for Trump, believing that he was referring only to criminals, not themselves or their loved ones.  As 2026 is already showing, nothing could be further from the truth. Most people detained and deported have no criminal records. For Trump and MAGA, no immigrants from non-majority White countries were welcome or innocent. Even if they had an H1-B visa.

The goal to deport the “worst of the worst” to send ICE or the National Guard to reduce crime in cities was always a lie. There is no need to keep repeating it as either a supposed campaign promise or ICE’s mission, only to compare it to the excesses we have seen on the streets this year. We do not need to abolish ICE; we need amnesty to regularize people. Local police and courts can handle the small percentage of foreign-born individuals who commit crimes. At some point, Trump officials said that most immigrants detained had a criminal record or could build one in the future. In hindsight, the criminalization of migration that Trump and Vance were promoting during the 2024 presidential campaign was successful because they (barely) won the elections. But since the election, those happy with Trump closing the border were in the low 50s in polls at their highest points in time. On January 23, 2026, the views on the border are 50/50; nothing to campaign on. Most people who identify as Democrats and the great majority of independents oppose ICE. Regarding immigration policies in general, the administration is underwater, with many more people saying they have gone too far than supporting it.

In 2025, many Democratic elected federal politicians had been saying on TV interviews that Trump had won the immigration argument, meaning electorally but also implying empirically and in terms of policies. Immigration policies as a whole have been toxic. Contrary to the desire of people in the center right to deport all people without a current immigration status, detentions and deportations in the first year of this Trump administration have largely focused on people who entered legally with a visa or CBP One, people applying to renew their TPS, or asking for asylum. People have been arrested in immigration courts even when judges have not asked for removal. Some individuals have been arrested during their naturalization ceremonies just minutes before becoming citizens. This makes sense if one cares more about quotas and about removing people who are not seen as White before they become American citizens and/or have more U.S.-born children. Trump has also gone after birthright citizenship and has asked for denaturalizations —stripping citizenship from those who proactively jumped all the hoops to become citizens. These facts, along with the many dog whistles and open loudspeaker broadcasting to extreme right subcultures in public speeches, conferences, and X posts, show that the energy behind all these immigration policies is White Christian Nationalism. A dream about racial purity, one not too far from being open to using violence to achieve it, possibly leading to genocide if nobody opposes it. Fortunately, most Americans are against that. But many of those in favor of the current full immigration agenda openly say they do not want religious and racial minorities in the U.S., and even want more to be done. There is no staying neutral on these matters while people are shot at, imprisoned, and terrorized.

Unfortunately, in early 2026, I still hear some elected Democrat officials and operators saying that Trump “had won the immigration debate.” That is false. Others claim without evidence that Trump won, including in 2024, because of his promise to close the border. They forget the 2016 promise about the border wall and how little he built. They do not explain why anti-immigrant claims against caravans and Central American immigration did not help him win in 2000. Other problematic praises from Democratic officials come along the lines of saying, “Trump did a great job closing the border to undocumented immigrants, and that this is a good thing, that should continue.” MAGA without MAGA.

That is disrespectful to the undocumented immigrants and their communities, which would prefer to vote Democrat but are repulsed by such Trumpian comments. In another sense, polls and massive protests show that most people in the interior do not really care about the status of border crossings. What most people care about today is what we see in Minneapolis and what we saw before in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, New Orleans, and many other places around the country. That is an excessive use of force by ICE to find our neighbors who happen to be undocumented. Violations of the Bill of Rights, unconstitutional stops, entering homes without judicial orders, and racial profiling.

Mass Deportations are Regular Politics

The number of undocumented people in the U.S., between 8 and 15 million, and probably around 11 million when Trump retook the Presidency constitutes around 3% of the overall population in the United States. For the U.S. to get rid of all its undocumented population, it would indeed need something related something akin to an authoritarian state. That is what we have started to see, and that is what most people don’t like because there are undocumented kids in schools. There are undocumented nurses. There are undocumented teachers, agricultural workers, construction workers, and also people with their own businesses providing professional services, designing and renovating homes, etc. So, in order to find them, we will have to trample the civil liberties of many citizens. Is it worth it? I don’t think so. So, rather than just calling for the abolition of ICE, reform, or a return to the status quo so that the minimum due processes are followed before deportation, we have to start talking again about amnesty, paths to citizenship, and expanding chosen ways for legal immigration. Because, despite a false rhetoric that this was about “illegality,” this second Trump administration has also limited the legal pathways for migration. He has limited people’s ability to seek asylum. He has really reduced the number of refugees, made it more difficult and expensive to obtain professional visas like the H-1B visa, and curtailed other forms of legal migration, including for international students, the diversity visa lottery, and other programs that had bipartisan consensus that they were good for the country. He has also limited the ability to apply for new immigrant visas and green cards for people from over 75 countries, plus a travel ban of at least 19 countries, and has declared places such as Belize as safe third countries, making gaining asylum in the U.S. more difficult if people passed through those countries and making it easier to deport people from third countries there.

So, it is a masquerade to say that this was only about illegal immigration or getting criminals off the streets. These have been other of the big lies of the 2016 and 2024 campaigns. It is time that we get rid of those lies and we talk about the truth. We need immigration reform that allows people who are already living and paying taxes in the U.S. to do so legally, safely, and as fully recognized members of society. And lastly, we must establish a new legal pathway for newcomers because the country needs workers to keep the U.S. population and economy growing. So that’s what we need today. That’s the truth about immigration.

Ernesto Castañeda is a Professor at American University, where he leads the Immigration Lab and the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies. He has been studying immigration scientifically for over 20 years and has written many books on the subject, among them “Reunited: Family Separation and Central American Youth Migration” and “Immigration Realities: Challenging Common Misperceptions.”