Over the weekend, ICE raids began in Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs as part of a nationwide push by the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants. Searches have expanded to “sensitive” areas, including churches and schools. 

The second of President Donald Trump’s 20 core promises for the 2025 administration was to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.” During his first 10 days in office, he has delivered, deporting thousands of undocumented immigrants.

Midtown sophomore Ricardo Moreno said he was not surprised by Trump’s action on his immigration policies.

“[Trump] has been saying that he would do that since the first day of his campaign,” Moreno said. “We have to know that. I don’t have any problem with that. He’s deporting the criminals. He’s deporting the people that don’t do anything for the country.”

Jill Stahlman, criminal defense lawyer and Midtown parent, said people need to be conscious of their language regarding immigration to not increase discrimination. 

“When I hear people talking about somebody that’s not a citizen, and they’re here illegally, I think that definitely flavors the way that law enforcement looks at them, the way that the court system looks at them in a negative manner,” Stahlman said.

Brooks Payne, Atlanta native and former Midtown drumline teacher with the marching band, said he has witnessed the inefficiencies of the American immigration system from his wife’s family’s experience immigrating to the United States. 

“My wife, Andrea Payne, is Hispanic, and through her family, I have gained insight into how outdated, costly and inefficient the U.S. immigration system [is],” Payne said. “While I am not an expert in immigration policy, I find this week’s deportations to be a misuse of government resources.” 

(Audrey Lyons)

The Trump administration reduced restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allowing agents to detain immigrants in “sensitive places,” including churches and schools, reversing a decade-long standard. Jean-Luc Rivera, the deputy executive director for the Latino Community Fund of Georgia, said removing this border could put communities in danger. 

“ICE is [now] allowed to go to schools, hospitals and before these were off limits places because people needed to be able to receive healthcare, receive education, worship without having the fear of being persecuted, and I think it’s a really dangerous thing that’s happening. And is instilling fear amongst the immigrant community,” Rivera said. 

Stahlman said it is dangerous for ICE to be able to come into schools and places of work and should only be done under exigent circumstances. 

 “It puts everybody, or most people in fear, either puts them in a position where they want to turn over people that they think are not legally here, or they’re afraid that they may get detained as being illegal,” Stahlman said. “I think it definitely creates a public safety risk.”

School districts across the country, including Atlanta Public Schools, have released statements either pledging protection for undocumented students or guidance for undocumented families in their school district.

“The teacher and school administration, their first foremost duty is the safety of the children in the building,” Stahlman said. “They can refuse entry to anybody they think may pose a risk of harm to the students in the building, and that would include ICE agents if they don’t have the proper documentation.”

Payne said the ability to raid schools and churches is immoral. 

“Beyond being an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars, ICE raids in schools and churches are an invasion of privacy and a violation of fundamental human rights,” Payne said. “As someone who grew up in the church, I view religious spaces as sanctuaries, and schools should be no different. Students already face enough challenges — adding the fear of immigration enforcement to their concerns is not only unjust but also detrimental to their education and well-being.”

A Colorado apartment complex was overtaken by alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, this, as well as the murder of UGA student Laken Riley by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant, has made educator Larry Wynder feel unsafe. 

“With President Trump’s full force crackdown on criminals and illegal immigrants, I’m in full support to make our communities a safer place for kids and families alike,” Wydner said. “We’ve seen news where young girls were brutally raped and murdered in Athens, Georgia and in Queens, New York and in some cases, some communities have their apartment homes being taken over by Venezuelan gangs in Colorado.”

Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on Wednesday, requiring law enforcement to arrest all reported undocumented immigrants for any crime, including misdemeanors. Rivera thinks that this will increase the amount of immigrants who don’t report crimes. 

“This law really has been driving a wedge between the immigrant communities and law enforcement, and that really appears in several different ways,” Rivera said. “I think the biggest [difference] is that people who are vulnerable are going to be more afraid to report crimes that are happening to them because they’re going to be afraid to get involved with law enforcement.” 

Rivera said this will create situations where immigrants do not feel safe going to the police.

“Let’s say, for instance, you have someone who’s a victim of domestic violence, they’re going to be afraid to actually go to law enforcement to report this crime because if they happen to be undocumented, then there is a legal requirement there for them to actually have to follow through with detaining the person who’s reporting the crime of being a victim of domestic violence,” Rivera said.

Stahlman has undocumented clients from Brazil that are terrified of small interactions with law enforcement because of fear that they’ll get reported. Stahlman spoke with another attorney who had a client detained by ICE after a lane violation. 

“I was talking to another attorney, who had a client that was pulled over for a lane violation and saw that the driver was undocumented,” Stahlman said. “He was arrested, and his wife and two children were detained. That would have just been a minor traffic violation, in the past, but now, their father, their husband has been detained, he’s gonna be in ICE custody and most likely deported back to whatever country he came from, and they’re left essentially alone without a person that was supporting the family. All of this happened in front of the two young children.”

So far, raids have targeted cities where the majority of citizens voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. Robert Deutsch, an oncologist who lives in Decatur, said he’s frustrated that Trump’s immigration policies are disproportionately impacting areas that didn’t primarily vote for him.

“My hospital cleaning crew is certainly staffed with undocumented immigrants,” Deutsch said. “I am absolutely furious that he’s targeting specifically states that are not completely aligned to his views and or voted against him. You won’t see ICE agents on dairy farms in Iowa, that’s for sure. They’re targeting churches and schools in liberal havens like DeKalb.”

Stahlman said Atlanta is reliant on immigrants’ contributions to the workforce, and if Atlanta were to lose undocumented immigrant populations, it would be a loss to the community.

“We’re very reliant upon a lot of people that work in the restaurants, landscaping and that do some of the manual labor jobs and build houses who may not be citizens and may be undocumented,” Stahlman said. “It would be a tremendous loss to the community, as a whole, if they’re not able to obtain citizenship and become legal citizens.” 

According to a 2022 survey, about 40 million American workers participate in the gig economy, or engage in independent jobs, such as delivering food or driving passengers. Midtown resident Sam Kay said harsh immigration policy has reduced his customer base.

“I do gig work, and it has been impacted by immigration policy in that the harsh policies scare away potential customers,” Kay said. “This week’s deportations have aligned accurately with my view of Trump’s immigration policy, in that the policy is cruel, bigoted and un-American.”

Immigrants contribute to Atlanta’s workforce and tax base. Atlanta City Council member Matt Westmoreland said past legislation against immigrants had harmful impacts on the economic sectors that rely on immigrant labor.

“From a practical perspective, immigrants make up 10% of Georgia’s population and make up about 14% of our workforce, but they are overwhelmingly represented in sectors around agriculture or construction, hospitality, maintenance and healthcare,” Westmoreland said. “We have seen instances in this state when, anti-immigration legislation has passed before the Trump era, what the negative and unintended consequences were of those pieces of legislation on those sectors.”

Brooks is now a licensed realtor and said the increase in deportation will negatively impact the housing market, as immigrants make up 30% of the construction workforce. 

“I believe immigration policy will have a direct impact on the housing market, particularly in the areas of new construction and renovation,” Payne said. “Labor shortages, often influenced by immigration restrictions, affect the supply of housing, which, in turn, impacts rental prices and availability.”

Immigrants make up 47% of painters and 43% of maids and housekeepers in Georgia. Payne said the loss of those who are undocumented could increase the prices for American consumers.  

“Ultimately, the economic burden of these policies will fall on consumers, as businesses are forced to raise prices to compensate for labor shortages,” Payne said. “And let’s be clear — no one is truly ‘legal’ on stolen land.” 

Trump deported 1,000 immigrants when he took office on Jan. 20, the highest number of deportations in one day under any Trump administration. This number, however, will not equal the “millions and millions” that Trump promised to deport during his inaugural address. 

“There’s not the money there for the continued deportations, entertaining people, opening or having facilities to house them, and all the things that are flying them back to their countries and processing them, it’s millions and millions and millions of dollars to keep that kind of operation going on,” Stahlman said. “I’m not sure financially the country can sustain that.”

Trump has also ordered an end to birthright citizenship, part of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which declares anyone born on American soil is automatically a U.S. citizen. A judge has currently put a temporary block on Trump’s executive order, but Stahlman thinks this is a horrific possibility for children of immigrants.  

“It terrifies kids who were born here, and who may have parents that were not born here, and have not become citizens,” Stahlman said. “It puts them in a terrible place, and they are fearful that their parents may be taken away from them. And now, under the current Trump administration, there’s talk about doing away with the natural people that are born here, their birthrights in the Constitution.”

Moreno is in support of Trump revoking birthright citizenship, as he believes that people come to the United States just to have their children, also known as birth tourism. 

“The only thing that I can say that I like about the new president Donald Trump is they would cut all the residence and all the passports of the people that are born here because that was a problem,” Moreno said. “I’ve seen a lot of people that come here just to have babies and then go back to their country just to get the U.S. nationality.”

Birthright citizenship was established by the 14th Amendment to overturn the Dred Scott decision, which stated that Black Americans could not be U.S. citizens and, therefore, did not qualify for the Constitutional rights of citizens. This granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people and helped expedite Reconstruction.

“If you take a look at the executive order that is attempting to end birthright citizenship, which has been a core component of the country since the 14th Amendment after the Civil War, it feels like the actions of the federal government over the last week have been designed to maximize fear and destabilization.”

In a statement issued on Jan. 27, Atlanta Public Schools reiterated its commitment to supporting all students, whether or not they have proper documentation.

“All children have the Constitutional right to access a K-12 education and receive fair and equitable treatment,” the statement said. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the privacy of all students. Atlanta Public Schools is committed to maintaining the privacy and protection of every child in our district, regardless of immigration or citizenship status.”

Georgia House Bill 1105 was signed into law on May 1, 2024, and it requires local law enforcement to report anyone they arrest who cannot prove legal immigration status to ICE. Westmoreland said this makes it harder for Atlanta to support immigrants than other cities whose state governments give them more freedom.

“Last year, the General Assembly passed something called 1105, which requires law enforcement to cooperate with ICE and their detention priorities and practices,” Westmoreland said. “State laws supersede city ordinances. Cities and counties in Georgia have to act a certain way to not be in violation of state law, differently here than somewhere than other places.” 

The Atlanta City Council has been working since Trump was elected to support the city’s immigrant populations. Westmoreland said the council has prioritized investing in programs, including the Latino Community Fund of Georgia, which promotes voting rights and economic opportunity for the Latinx population of Georgia.

“One of the pieces of legislation that a colleague of mine read in at our council meeting on Thursday was making a donation to [the Latino Community Fund of Georgia],” Westmoreland said. “Whether it’s through money or through increased conversation and dialogue, we’re making sure that we’re partnering as much as we can to help support residents.” 

The Latino Community Fund works closely with the city to run the Welcome Atlanta Department, the mayor’s office of international and immigrant affairs. Rivera said the city council’s recent support has helped expand their partnership.

“It’s allowed us to step in and help provide more resources for the Welcoming Atlanta Department in terms of providing them with advocate checklists on how to advocate for immigrant rights, and also helping to train their staff and their navigators on how to make sure immigrants actually know their rights,” Rivera said.

Although the Atlanta Police Department legally has to cooperate with ICE, the city government can take steps to protect and support immigrants. Kay is concerned how the ICE raids will affect the safety of Midtown. 

“The best way the local government can support the Atlanta community is by making Atlanta a sanctuary city and challenging ICE in every way, and offering legal protection to undocumented immigrants,” Kay said. “ICE raids impact the safety of my community, as they are an inherently violent act, and there is almost no instance in which an ICE raid would be morally or ethically justifiable in my community.”