America’s Immigration Crisis: The Deadly Consequences of Trump’s Policies
Podcast 120
By Jackalyn Rainosek, PhD
A Government in Chaos: The Trump-Musk Power Grab
Something we all need to understand is Trump and Musk could care less about people and so they have bombarded DC with so many actions that it is hard for the courts to keep up with what they are doing. Be clear that non-criminal immigrants are being deported, and some are being sent to Guantanamo.
We have a President that was elected based on misinformation and lies that people believed so Fact Checking is essential, since you cannot trust anything that is coming out of Trump or Musk mouths. It is ridiculous to think that Musk can attempt to fire so many people in our governmental agencies based on what he and Trump are saying is preventing fraud when there are already articles out that the two cannot find fraud in the agencies. The FRAUD is being done by Trump and Musk.
The Erosion of Checks and Balances
We are supposed to have 3 branches of the government—legislative, Congressional, and Judicial. Well, the legislative branch has decided to take over the congressional responsibilities of managing the budget supposedly, which is not their job. The Congressional branch controlled at the moment for the next two years by MAGA Republicans are acquiescing to Trump and Musk. The judicial branch along with Democrats and some Republicans are fighting multiple actions that Musk is taking and stopping what is happening to have Judges review the cases. Between the Democratic Governors and Public Citizen, they are suing Musk and Trump and stopping a lot of the actions so they can be reviewed.
The Strategy of Overload: How Trump and Musk Are Bombarding the System
One of the best descriptions I can give you on the overwhelming actions by Trump and Musk in their first week is in The Week, February 7, 2025, in an article entitled “Trump orders cause whiplash in Washington.” I think the ending comment on this article states clearly what is going on:
“It’s hard to see a blizzard,” said Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian. Trump’s unrelenting ‘shock and awe’ offensive ‘has left its targets reeling’ and struggling to keep pace. There’s another thing ‘hobbling the opposition’s ability to react’—a slowness to fully grasp that ‘what we are witnessing is an assertion of raw power and an attempt to exercise it without limit.’ There’s a clear picture emerging: The world’s most powerful office ‘is becoming the court of an emperor, untrammeled by alliances, The Constitution, or the law. The task is to see it.”
The Fraud They Won’t Talk About
Let’s look at the article by Glenn Kessler, in “The Washington Post” , which is titled, “Trump says DOGE found ‘tens of billions’ in savings. Not even Close.”
“The president, with billionaire Elon Musk at his side, asserted that Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service had already identified “tens of billions” of “waste, fraud and abuse.” He suggested it could be as much as $500 billion and “when you get down to it, it’s going to be probably close to a trillion dollars. It could be close to a trillion dollars that we’re going to find.”
The president’s numbers do not come anywhere close to matching figures posted on the DOGE account on X, Musk’s social media site. (DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency, though it is not a Cabinet-level agency.) We added up all the figures posted, taking most of them at face value, though virtually no documentation was presented. The numbers add up to about $6 billion a year, though $4 billion comes from a proposed cap on National Institutes of Health research overhead payments to universities, medical centers and other grant recipients. A judge has blocked that for now.
In other words, DOGE has claimed only about $2 billion in annual savings from specific line items — most of which appear to come from ending diversity or climate change programs. Whether that constitutes “waste, fraud and abuse” is a matter of opinion.
“Below is a list of DOGE social media posts identifying the claimed savings at the time the president spoke. We sent our accounting to the White House, which did not dispute it. Instead, we received a statement that the federal government could save up to $747 billion annually.
Two Government Accountability Office reports were the source of this figure. One report, issued last year, said that the “federal government loses an estimated $233 billion to $521 billion” every year to fraud. The other report, also issued in 2024, cited an estimated $236 billion of improper payments for fiscal year 2023.
These reports are filled with caveats, as they are estimates. The 2024 report on fraud relied on information from agency inspectors general, whom Trump has fired, and existing cases — fraud that had already been identified. Then an estimate of potential fraud was developed. As for the improper payments, these were mostly agency estimates of overpayments.
But, again, these are estimates, not hard facts, as Trump claimed. If you want the list of what they saved. Here’s the full accounting of what DOGE has claimed so far. “MM” and “M” both refer to million; “B” refers to billion. The claimed contract savings should be taken with a grain of salt, as some money has already been spent (the fiscal year begins on Oct. 1) and there are contract termination fees.”
If you want to read the list, then the reference for this article will be given at the end of this podcast.
The Painful Reality About Immigration in the U.S.
I will take you to the same The Week Magazine on February 7, 2025, where they address immigrations. The article is “Thousands arrested in immigration crackdown.”
“ The U.S. detained thousands of undocumented migrants nationwide this week, as President Trump ordered a dramatic ramp-up of raids. Homeland Security Secretary Krsti Noem said the ICE raids have netted some sex offenders and gang members. But many arrested migrants have no criminal record. ‘Our youngest, the 7-year-old, hasn’t stopped crying,’ said Kenia Velasquie, 34, a Honduran asylum seeker whose husband Wilson, was arrested outside their suburban Atlanta church.”
In a comment from Will Bunch from The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Meanwhile, migrants who have been the backbone of working-class neighborhoods are hiding in attics and keeping their school-age children home.’ The fear is the point, and so, apparently, is the cruelty.”
Juliette Kayyem from The Atlantic says, “Trump’s political interest lies in exploiting the border, not effectively managing it. And that might actually revive border chaos. His axing of CBP One, an app to vet and process migrants who want to claim asylum, may shut off a relatively orderly avenue to entering the U.S. But it won’t stop illicit border crossings. Plenty of people across the world remain desperate enough to try to come here despite the threat of punishment. ‘Migrants don’t simply disappear by wishing them away.’”
After 24 years, an immigrant’s fate has been determined in Trump’s first week.
There are so many heart breaking stories of immigrants that should not be receiving this kind of cruel actions, since many of them being deported have been here for years, and work, contribute to our communities and have never created harm to our communities.
Here is a story that I feel saddened and dismayed that we as Americans are allowing this to happen. Those of you that voted for Trump don’t bypass the story, since you contributed to creating this story. A man who has a wife and four children came here when he was a teenager. He has held many jobs in the U.S. He worked in a poultry plant, poured concrete, and helped build new homes.
He described what it is like to meet his priest, since the priest is going to the ICE office with him to check-in which he has done for many years. He looks at his sleeping children and as he leave his house, he does not know whether he will be able to return to his home or not. As he enters the ICE building, he has his paperwork with him and has more files to show what he has done for 24 years. Since he knows the ICE agent since he has reported to him yearly, the man indicates that he noticed he has come in with his lawyer and his priest.
His lawyer negotiates for him to agree to buy his own airline ticket and not be transported by the U.S. government; however, he has return in two weeks to come back with a ticket to Guatemala or ICE will come after him.
This is where the story gets even harder to read or know about. He is asking himself how he can wrap up 24 years. How in the world is he going to plan for his wife and four children to live without him.
His wife is distraught with the realization that he has only two weeks; however, at least he was able to come home. As the story ends, he is at church where he plays guitar in a five-person band. His son is playing the drums. His wife is crying, and his children are doing their best to weep and also honor their brother and father as they play in the band. Time will run out and he will have to leave. He chose to offer to pay for the ticket to Guatemala. His lawyer indicated that he would be saving the U.S. government by paying for his ticket to be deported.
There are many stories like this. The lies and attitude of the Homeland Security Secretary stated in the earlier article show the cruelty of Trump and his loyal civil servants. It is time for all of us that can see what Trump is doing with his Immigration policy become educated about Immigration laws in the U.S. We need to help people know what they can do to protect themselves, their families and what they can do if ICE questions them. Those of us that will not be threatened or removed from the U.S. need to stand with knowledge and commitment to stop these kinds of actions.
How to be an Ally that Supports and Protect Immigrant Rights
I went to a meeting on February 12th and received direct, clear and great handouts from Jasmine Gonzalez about how to know what to do to support immigrants. I am going to include all the documents she gave me in the script, and I will also ask my tech people to add a button to allow you to download these valuable documents. In the podcast, I will cover some of the things in the handouts from Jasmine. I have made copies of them, and I am taking them to every location I can think of to help put the word out about protecting immigrant rights. This first page is an excellent opportunity to get resources.
These two sheets will give you very specific recommendation about how to deal with ICE. You have rights so read these papers over and share them with your friends and immigration attorneys.
The download will have a Spanish version of the last two pages, and I know that Jasmine will be glad to send you the translations they are working on to produce the documents in other languages. Her email is jasmine@khademgonzalez.com and her phone is 281-881-3766.
Conclusion:
The Trump administration’s assault on immigrants, government agencies, and democracy itself is not just political theater—it is a calculated move to consolidate power, silence opposition, and erase accountability. The misinformation spread by Trump and Musk is a dangerous tool, one that can only be countered with truth, vigilance, and action. We must hold our leaders accountable, demand transparency, and fight for a government that upholds the Constitution rather than dismantles it. The fate of immigrants in America is tied to the fate of our democracy, and we cannot afford to look away. The time to act is now.
References for Podcast 120:
- The Week, February 7, 2025, “Trump orders cause whiplash in Washington.” (In order to get The Week, you will need to contact them directly— https://subscribe.theweek.com/pubs/W0/TWE/self1023_3formats_Dlink.jsp?cds_page_id=275740&cds_mag_code=TWE&id=1739589820831&lsid=50452123407074721&vid=2&cds_response_key=I3FRPKSZ1)
- Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post, “Trump says DOGE found ‘tens of billions’ in savings. Not even Close.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/12/doge-savings-trump-musk/
- The Week Magazine, February 7, 2025, “Thousands arrested in immigration crackdown.”
- Jasmine Gonzalez articles, “How Can Allies Support and Protect Immigrant Rights?” (You will be able to go to the blog and download the documents. You can email her at jasmine@dhademgonzalez.com if you want other translations.)