The job of Alfredo Orellana, a green card holder, was taking care of Luke Ferris, a 28-year-old American with severe autism. Over the course of four years, Orellana became more than a caregiver. He was also a friend for Ferris, keeping him company through the ups and downs. That was the case until recently, when Orellana was taken into a detention center in Texas, where he now is waiting to be deported.
Orellana's is one of the many cases of green card holders or legal migrants who have been detained by the Trump administration in their efforts to curb down immigration. Concretely, he faces deportation for trying to swindle a store out of $200 eight years ago when, his wife, he told The New York Times, he was struggling with substance abuse.
"How could anyone support getting rid of an amazing person providing a vital service to an American?" asked Lena Ferris, Luke's mother, who noted that her son's care— and thus Orellana's salary— is covered by Medicaid.
Since Trump took office, the White House has been using more aggressive tactics to curb down immigration, both legal and illegal. For instance, the administration has recently targeted legal migrants, like international students, who have expressed views that the government believes threaten national security and undermine foreign policy.
The tactics have unnerved foreign tourists and sent a chill through immigrant communities in the United States, who say they are being targeted for speech— not for breaking any laws.
"Whether it's speech and criticism, green cards, they're really taking it to a whole new level," said Gil Kerlikowske, a former Customs and Border Protection commissioner and an ex-policy chief of four cities. Recalling the anti-administration agenda in Trump's first term, he said that "it's deja vu all over again on steroids."
Green card holders convicted of certain crimes can be deported. But the government has usually opted not to target those people unless they have committed particularly serious crimes, according to legal experts.
Orellana's lawyer, Ben Osorio, compared arresting green card holders like his client to ticketing people for driving five miles over the speed limit, and fining everyone who jaywalks.
"We are living in an era of maximum enforcement," he said.
A Department of Homeland Security document reviewed by The New York Times said that Orellana was subject to removal from the U.S. for obtaining $200 "by false pretenses." Under immigration law, that constitutes a crime involving "more turpitude" that can place a green card holder at risk of deportation.
Orellana's case has sent a chill down fellow green card holders' spines. Several lawyers told the Times that they have been advising those with even minor offenses on their record to avoid international trips. Many of those people had traveled abroad without any problem before Trump took office, the lawyers said.
The case has also raised the question among the public and experts alike: if mass deportations come about, how will U.S. industries be affected?
The impact of mass deportations is not only being felt in immigrant homes and communities, but also in the industries that rely on immigrants as a source of willing and inexpensive labor, including residential construction, agriculture, senior care and hospitality. American consumers will soon feel the pain.
"Businesses across industries know what comes next when their work force disappears— restaurants, coffee shops and grocery stores struggling to stay open, food prices soaring, and everyday Americans demanding action," said Rebecca Shi, chief executive of the American Business Immigration Council.
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