Our Kafkaesque Immigration System 2.0

By Emily Alvarez

Mark M. (name and identifying details withheld for safety) fled his home country in South America in late 2018 after receiving threats that made remaining there impossible. He entered the United States legally on a B-2 visitor visa and, within months, filed an affirmative asylum application, a process generally viewed more favorably because it is initiated while the applicant is in lawful status. After filing, Mark had his biometrics taken, was issued a Social Security number and work authorization card, and also obtained his state I.D card. For nearly six years, he has lived and worked legally in the United States while awaiting a final decision on his asylum case.

This summer, while working as a driver in the new city he had come to call home, Mark was swept up from his job by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Despite providing the ICE agents with all his federal and state documents, Mark was detained. When he explained to the agents that he had a pending asylum application, one agent reportedly told him, “Asylum is cancelled.” In August, he was sent to the infamous detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades, and from there transferred through several detention centers before ending up in an especially unsafe facility in a Southern border state that is notorious for human rights abuses. 

Mark has now been detained for nearly four months. He followed the law at every step: he entered the country legally, filed his asylum application on time, maintained work authorization, paid taxes, and built a life in the United States. Nonetheless, he was arrested, stripped of his documents, and deprived of his liberty. His future remains uncertain. 

Mark’s sister Denise says the experience has been devastating, and should be a lesson for others. “It is important that people know and understand that this is happening,” Denise recounted. “People should know their rights, know how to be prepared. When my brother was detained, we didn’t have anything we needed. We didn't have the authority to manage his finances or talk to his bank. We didn’t have a way to get into his apartment. We didn’t even know where he was at first. They took everything from him when they arrested him: his I.D., his wallet, his phone.” Denise encourages people to make sure they have at least one or two phone numbers memorized in case they are detained, since their phones are confiscated. 

Mark’s story, unfortunately, is not a unique one. Since January 2025, a wave of executive actions and policy shifts has dramatically expanded immigration enforcement and targeted immigrants across the United States. Threats to birthright citizenship, increased funding for ICE, and sweeping changes to enforcement policies have created an unprecedented landscape.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, there were 39,000 detainees in ICE custody in January 2025. By late August, this number rose to 61,000 and is projected to reach as high as 107,000 people by January 2026. The previous high, 50,200 detainees on average, occurred in 2019 during the first Trump administration.

Immigration enforcement and detention is not the only area of upheaval. Having and keeping legal status in the U.S. has also gotten exponentially more difficult. Lawful Permanent Residents and students on F-1 visas have found themselves under the threat of losing status, prompting many to return to their home countries rather than risk detention or deportation. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for seven countries have been terminated, effectively stripping hundreds of thousands of people of the legal status and work authorization they relied upon. Nearly a million individuals have already lost, or are set to lose, legal status through TPS terminations. 

Seeking asylum at the Southern Border has also been suspended indefinitely, an unprecedented move that sets the country’s asylum laws back several decades. Many legal experts are arguing that it is unlawful. Columbia Law School’s Elora Mukherjee noted on NPR that “the president cannot single-handedly undo laws passed by Congress nor can the president unilaterally change international treaties to which the United States is a party.”

A persistent myth holds that immigration problems affect only those who “cut corners” or “break the rules,” and that following the legal process ensures safety. In reality, legal pathways are increasingly limited, expensive, and often impossible to navigate. Application fees can cost thousands of dollars; hiring a private attorney can reach tens of thousands. Many green card categories have wait times of more than 20 years. Immigration judges are being removed from their positions, further stalling adjudications. And as seen with TPS terminations, people who once had lawful status can suddenly become undocumented overnight. Even individuals like Mark, who did everything “the right way”, can be detained or deported without warning.

The cumulative effect of these changes has been profound. Naturalization, the final step for Lawful Permanent Residents, has become harder as well. According to the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, naturalization denials have risen by 23.7% in the first six months of the second Trump administration.

Immigrant communities play a vital role in economic, civic, and cultural contributions to the United States. In a country built by and made up of Native Americans and generations of immigrants, where foundational values include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the ongoing dismantling of the immigration system represents not only a denial of basic human rights but a threat to the nation’s social and economic wellbeing. What was once a system designed to offer refuge and provide legal pathways to stability has become the largest civil detention system in the country, one increasingly focused on stripping people of status and due process.

To see a comprehensive list of policy changes, you can check out Just Security’s Coverage of Trump Administration Executive Actions, including those affecting Immigration: Timeline: Politicization and Weaponization of Justice Department in Second Trump Administration

Emily Alvarez works in Immigration advocacy across the state of New Mexico. Graduated from UNM with a degree in Spanish and Chicano Studies, her passion for immigrant rights stems from an upbringing rooted in social justice. 

Additional sources for this article:
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) | Publications | Insights | Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
President Trump’s suspension of asylum marks a break from U.S. past : NPRTrump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across ten states | AP News
Article: U.S. Immigrant Detention Grows to Record .. | migrationpolicy.org

Other articles and commentary on Immigration Issues published by the New Mexico Jewish Journal include:

• Local Non-Profits Empower Immigrant Families to Fight Fear with Preparation by Emily Alvarez
• Jewish Community Foundation Increases Grants to Immigrant and Refugee Organizations after an Influx of Donations by Vivian Skadron
• Lack of Immigration Law is Intolerable by Merilee Dannemann
• Latino Immigrants Today, Jewish Immigrants Back Then by Judith Fein
• Some personal thoughts on broader effects of the U.S. election by Diane Joy Schmidt

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