According to the Immigration Policy Tracking Project, the Trump administration has taken 130 actions on immigration so far this term. Groups in Montana are trying to both track those changes and watch state bills.

One early executive order placed a 90-day freeze on refugee arrivals to the country, halting families with flights already booked to the U.S. Another made changes to Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole, granted when a person's home country is deemed unsafe due to armed conflict, natural disaster or other emergencies.

Mary Poole, executive director of the nonprofit resettlement agency Soft Landing Missoula, said the orders could undo years of work.

"This rapid removal of humanitarian protections, that's one thing that's really scary for folks," Poole observed. "Many people came here through this new legal pathway that Biden created and it might just be deemed null and void."

Two Montana immigration bills passed the House and were brought to the Senate last week. One would require police to check and report someone's immigration status during a "lawful stop" and the other would allow the state to criminally prosecute a person in federal detention for immigration violations.

Soft Landing Missoula works with 600 refugees and immigrants from 30 different countries. Poole said
the organization has taken on new work with the change in federal administration, including immigrant rights' training.

"Immigrants have rights," Poole emphasized. "Making sure that folks are aware of what those are and how our organizations and facilities can uphold those rights, that's a really important piece of the work that we've been doing."

According to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, if immigration officials come to a person's home, they do not need to answer a knock without a warrant signed by a judge, containing the person's correct name and address. People approached also have the right to remain silent.


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As the Trump administration continues to implement aggressive immigration policies, many Hispanic residents in Florida, a key voting bloc for Trump, are facing increased scrutiny and fear of deportation.

Eliseo Santana, a Puerto Rican veteran and civil servant with more than 30 years of service to his community, is among them. Santana serves as regional manager for the Alianza Center and recently spoke out against the current climate of discrimination and the demand for documentation targeting Hispanic individuals. He expressed his frustration and demanded respect from all levels of government.

"I insist that my rights as a citizen of the State of Florida be upheld," Santana emphasized. "And that our legislators respect and leave me alone and stop making laws that would empower people to discriminate against me, to select me because of my looks, just because I'm Hispanic."

The Trump administration's recent moves to tighten immigration from Venezuela and El Salvador have further heightened tensions within Hispanic communities. The policies are part of a broader strategy to curb immigration and have sparked widespread concern among Hispanic Americans, many of whom feel targeted based on their ethnicity.

Santana is a U.S. citizen by birth and stressed Puerto Ricans are often unfairly targeted despite their citizenship status.

"There are 21 nationalities that identify as Hispanic, and in the state of Florida," Santana pointed out. "Puertorriqueno are the number one and Puertorriqueno, Puerto Ricans, are U.S. citizens by birth. It is important for everyone to recognize that because someone looks Hispanic does not mean they're undocumented or they're a criminal."

The Trump administration's efforts to tighten immigration policies have hit Venezuelan immigrants in Florida especially hard, many of whom depend on Temporary Protected Status to live and work legally in the U.S.

Temporary Protected Status is a humanitarian program for individuals fleeing conflict or disaster and has been a lifeline for Venezuelans escaping their country's crisis. However, the administration's push to roll back Temporary Protected Status protections has left thousands in limbo, fueling outrage among immigrant advocates and Hispanic communities.


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Social and economic disruptions are among the impacts reported by Minnesota Latino support organizations as they monitor the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts.

A coordinated response is underway to assist those affected.

Adhering to his campaign pledge, President Donald Trump is putting pressure on federal agencies to scale up deportations of undocumented people.

Analysts say the numbers haven't moved much, but it's expected the White House will keep adding resources for enforcement.

Ryan Perez - organizing director with the Minnesota group organization Communities Organizing Latino Power and Action - said with the administration publicizing arrests, there's an added level of fear.

"We have people that are afraid to go shopping, to go to their cultural markets and grocery stories, because they assume that ICE would target those places," said Perez. "And some of those impacts are economic, but a lot of those impacts are social, and they're affecting our social fabric. "

He said more than 90 organizations across Minnesota are now assisting with things like legal defense when someone is detained, or social aid for families suddenly left without an income.

The coalition also is maintaining a flow of information to community members to know their rights, in hopes people won't be as afraid to venture out.

Federal agencies involved say they're following through on a mandate from the American people for increased enforcement.

Perez said COPAL facilitates the Immigrant Defense Network, with teams showing up to enforcement incidents as they happen to ensure federal agents aren't violating anyone's rights.

"There are due process rights that people have as citizens of other countries, as community members living here, working here," said Perez. "And we're investigating those situations."

Perez pointed to a recent raid in Rochester where several people were detained, despite their attorneys saying they had no violent criminal records - a key motivation highlighted by the Trump administration in carrying out these efforts.

The individuals were eventually released, but community members noted the enforcement disrupted operations at a local restaurant.

As nationwide deportation efforts continue, new research examined the labor market of a past president to help forecast what could happen if President Donald Trump follows through on his plans.

The Obama administration deported more than 3 million people. Trump said he wants to deport more, to increase jobs for U.S. citizens. A new report from the University of Colorado said U.S. presidents have a long history of blaming immigration for the country's economic troubles, even when research shows the opposite.

Chloe East, associate professor of economics at the University of Colorado in Denver, said mass deportations and raids incite fear and leave vacant jobs U.S. citizens are unlikely to fill.

"We really don't see this substitution between unauthorized immigrants and U.S.-born workers in the way that we're promised we will by politicians," East reported. "In fact, the effect sort of goes even beyond this lack of substitution."

She noted the industries most likely to be affected are construction, agriculture, manufacturing and service jobs, with positions tending to be lower paid, tougher or more dangerous. East argued keeping such jobs filled actually helps to increase U.S. labor opportunities. About 17% of Illinois workers are immigrants, including some 55,000 seasonal farmworkers.

Inconsistencies about who exactly is being targeted by ICE agents raises concerns about racial profiling. A leaked memo shows efforts have pivoted from focusing on people committing crimes to migrant familiesand unaccompanied children with no criminal histories. Migrant workers make up about 20% of the U.S. workforce. East observed it is striking to see history repeating itself.

"Whether we're looking a few decades back or a hundred years back, the results are very consistent and very clear that mass deportations are not the solution to any economic troubles," East explained.

While deportation data since Trump took office has yet to be released, the majority of news releases on the ICE website involve people from Mexico or Latin America. ICE said it will release updated deportation data every quarter.


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