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51 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 1 (2019-2020)

handle is hein.journals/colhr51 and id is 1 raw text is: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK: CRIMINALIZING ASYLUM-SEEKERS Thomas M. McDonnell* and Vanessa H. Merton** ABSTRACT In nearly three years in office, President Donald J. Trump's war against immigrants and the foreign-born seems only to have intensified. Through a series of Executive Branch actions and policies rather than legislation, the Trump Administration has targeted immigrants and visitors from Muslim-majority countries, imposed quotas on and drastically reduced the independence of Immigration Court Judges, cut the number of refugees admitted by more than 80%, cancelled DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), and stationed Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents at state courtrooms to arrest unauthorized immigrants, intimidating them from participating as witnesses and litigants. Although initially saying that only unauthorized immigrants convicted of serious crimes would be prioritized for deportation, the Trump Administration has implicitly given ICE officers carte blanche to arrest unauthorized immigrants anytime, anywhere, creating a climate of fear in immigrant communities. Particularly disturbing is the targeting of asylum-seekers, employing the criminal justice system and the illegal entry statute in * Professor of Law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, B.A., J.D., Fordham University. We thank Professor Karen Musalo, UC Hastings College of the Law, for commenting on a draft of this article. I thank my administrative assistant, Judy Jaeger, and my research assistants, Amanda Bertan-Chung and Julie Yedowitz. I also thank my wife, Kathryn Judkins McDonnell, for her constant support. My contribution to this article is dedicated to my daughter, Mary Louise Waldron, whose commitment to social justice is inspiring. ** Professor of Law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, B.A. Radcliffe College, J.D., New York University School of Law. My contribution to this article is dedicated to my son Darrow Slade Godeski Merton and to my daughter Rebecca Suzanne Godeski Merton, both of whom in their own ways fight for peace, freedom, justice, and the rule of law-and to the worldwide victims of oppression and persecution they both work so hard to help.