U.S. President Donald Trump has reignited a fierce political and social storm following his latest directive backing mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, as fear spreads among Latino communities across the country.
In a strongly worded post on his Truth Social platform, Trump ordered federal immigration agents to execute what he described as “the single largest Mass Deportation Program in history,” vowing to use every federal resource available to remove undocumented migrants from U.S. cities.
While Trump’s statement drew praise from his political base, it has left many immigrant families living in fear.
In Los Angeles, one of the most heavily Latino-populated cities in the U.S., residents say they’re afraid to go outside. “People are terrified,” said Maria Torres, a community organizer. “They feel hunted.”
According to her, the recent raids feel random. “You step out to buy groceries and worry if you’ll make it back,” she said.
Meanwhile, small protests broke out outside Los Angeles City Hall on Sunday, but the city remained mostly calm as police enforced a curfew.
A handful of demonstrators were seen confronting riot police, one of whom was spotted preparing to deploy nonlethal weapons.
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Trump, undeterred by the backlash, took direct aim at Democratic critics in his post, calling them “radical” and blaming them for what he termed the “collapse” of American inner cities. “They want open borders and chaos,” he said, while urging federal agents to “get the job done.”
He also claimed the immigration crisis had turned peaceful towns into “Third World dystopias.”
In response, former President Barack Obama condemned the operation, calling it divisive and harmful. “We should be fixing our immigration system, not weaponizing it against families,” Obama said in a post on X.
The Biden administration has yet to formally respond to Trump’s remarks, but sources within the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that immigration enforcement operations have increased in several states since early June.
The unfolding situation has rekindled national debate over immigration policy and the use of federal power to enforce it.
For now, families across immigrant communities remain on edge, caught between politics and uncertainty.