A mural reads “Defend DACA” (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in south Phoenix, Arizona, on Nov. 6, 2024. – The DACA program, created under Barack Obama, allows protections for people brought to the country illegally when they were children. But this authorization expires in 2025 and Donald Trump wants to end the DACA program. Therefore, undocumented immigrants may have had difficulty sleeping since learning of Trump’s impending return to the White House. (Photo by Olivier Touron / Agence France-Presse)

PHOENIX, United States — Since learning that Donald Trump will return to the White House, undocumented immigrants like Ángel Palazuelos may have had difficulty sleeping.

The 22-year-old, a biomedical engineering graduate student who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, is tormented by the incoming president’s promises of mass deportations.

“I was terrified,” Palazuelos said, reflecting on the moment he heard the news.

“I am afraid of being deported, of losing everything I have worked so hard for and, most importantly, of being separated from my family.”

Born in Mexico, he has lived in the United States since he was four years old. He is one of the country’s so-called “Dreamers,” a term for immigrants who were brought to the country as children and never obtained U.S. citizenship.

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Throughout the election campaign, Palazuelos heard Trump repeatedly criticize illegal immigrants, employing violent rhetoric about those who “poison the blood” of the United States.

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Trump has never specified how he plans to carry out his mass deportation plan, which experts warn would be extremely complicated and expensive.

“What do mass deportations mean? Who does that include? -Palazuelos asked.

“Does it include people like me, Dreamers, people who came here from a very young age and had nothing to say?”

Undocumented immigrants: ‘suspects’

Adding to the tension, the southwestern state of Arizona just passed a referendum that allows state police to arrest illegal immigrants. That power was previously reserved for federal border police.

If the courts consider the proposal constitutional, Palazuelos fears becoming the target of further racial discrimination.

“What makes someone suspected of being here illegally, even if they don’t speak English?” asked.

“My grandmother is an American citizen, however, she does not speak English very well. Meanwhile, I speak English, but is it because of the color of my skin that I would possibly be suspected or detained?”

José Patiño, 35, also feels a sense of “dread” and “sadness.” Their situation seems more fragile than ever.

Born in Mexico and brought to the United States at age six, he now works for Aliento, a community organization that helps undocumented immigrants.

He personally benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy introduced by Barack Obama, which offers protections and work permits for those in his situation.

But for Patiño, those safeguards will expire next year, and Trump has promised to end the DACA program.

In fact, Trump already tried to dismantle it during his previous term, but his decree was thwarted by a decision by the United States Supreme Court, largely on procedural grounds.

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Faced with this uncertainty, Patiño is considering moving to a state that would refuse to report him to federal authorities, such as Colorado or California.

“Frustrating and hurtful”

He remembers well the struggle of being undocumented in his twenties, a time when he couldn’t get a basic job like flipping burgers at McDonald’s, and couldn’t apply for a driver’s license or travel for fear of being deported.

“Personally I don’t want to go back to that kind of life,” Patiño said.

For him, Trump’s election victory is not only terrifying, but also an insult.

“We are contributing to this country. “So that’s the hard part: following the rules, working, paying my taxes, helping this country grow, that’s not enough,” he said.

“So it’s frustrating and painful.”

Patiño understands why so many Hispanic voters, often facing economic hardship, ended up voting for Trump.

Those who are here legally “believe they are not going to be attacked,” he said.

“Many Latinos associate wealth and success with whiteness, and they want to be part of that group and be included, rather than being outside of it, being marginalized, and being considered ‘the other,’” he said.

Still, he is angry at his own uncles and cousins ​​who, having once been undocumented, voted for Trump.

“We can’t have a conversation together, because this will end in an argument and probably a fight,” he said.