Trump's Immigration Policy At The US-Mexico Border And The Impact On Human Security

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Angel Damayanti , Calvin Ericke Zrada

Abstract

The issue of illegal immigrants in the United States had become a concern for Donald Trump, who was elected as the 45th US President in 2017. He made a policy to maintain US national security from threats mainly posed by illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border. This article elaborates on the implementation and the impact of such policy on the US and illegal immigrants’ security. This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods to answer the research problems in a case study approach. The authors use two theories - securitization and foreign policy– supported by national and human security concepts to describe the rationale behind the policy's implementation and explain the impact. This study finds that the issuance of Trump's immigration policy brings no significant change in the number of crimes, such as drugs and people smuggling in border areas. On the contrary, the policy adversely affects Mexican immigrants with an increase in the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants, coupled with verbal, physical, and psychological violence, including separation of illegal immigrant families, sexual harassment, and even deaths.

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