Maxwell School News and Commentary

Helping dairy and poultry farmworkers get tested is important for public health response. But many farmworkers are immigrants with no sick leave and who may speak primarily Indigenous languages or Spanish. The Trump administration’s deportation efforts have caused further reticence to report symptoms, says Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, associate professor of geography and the environment. 

“Although the Alien Enemies Act does not authorize military participation in law enforcement, if other laws permit their use, Trump could enable the military to implement summary detention and deportation of immigrants lawfully in the United States,” says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

The way the administration has framed its raids is an attempt to shape public perception by driving the narrative that “immigrants are criminals” who “don’t belong in the United States,” says Shana Gadarian, Merle Goldberg Fabian Professor of Excellence in Citizenship and Critical Thinking.

Prema Kurien, professor of sociology, examines the political mobilization strategies of people of South Asian and Indian descent in the United States. She also traces how immigrants reshape the host society, both conforming to aspects of that society while also transforming it to meet their unique needs. (Oxford University Press, 2025)

Assistant Professor Tomás Olivier was among those who gathered in the Dr. Paul & Natalie Strasser Legacy Room to take the Oath of Citizenship.

Using the military for domestic law enforcement would be a fundamental shift, one which too few Americans have considered or grappled with, says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. “It would turn our whole society upside down…all these arguments about him [Trump] being an autocrat or dictator, it is not a stretch.”

“These policies include mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and greatly reduced entry visas for working immigrants,” says Ryan Monarch, assistant professor of economics. “These policies would also lead to higher prices for everything from housing to groceries, as reduced labor supply in construction, agriculture and other sectors would lead to higher costs throughout the economy.“

“Immigrants tend to be younger and employed, which increases the number of workers paying into the system. Also, they have more children, which helps boost the future workforce that will pay payroll taxes,” says Gary Engelhardt, professor of economics, in response to Trump's statement that Biden will destroy Social Security and Medicare by putting migrants entering the U.S. on the benefits.

“Immigrants, notably those from the Chinese community, have been instrumental in driving innovation in AI and America’s broader high-tech industry, which suffers from a domestic ‘talent crisis.’ Addressing this challenge demands more favorable immigration policies...and a reduction in the hostility faced by Chinese scientists,” writes Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology.

“Let’s champion bipartisan efforts without fear of being labeled xenophobic or appearing to cede ground to one’s political base. ...Let’s not miss the opportunity for actual, meaningful reform because of bitterness, a partisan grudge or chance to show one side has been wrong on this issue all along,” writes James-Christian Blockwood, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.