I was fortunate to become a citizen. Does Trump want people like me in the U.S.? | Opinion
I wanted to come to the United States for a new experience. I decided to stay because of its opportunities. I became a citizen because of its values.
I waited for my place “in line” for different visas types, a green card and naturalization. I’ve paid taxes, worked, volunteered and contributed to this country.
But now that immigrants (legal and illegal), international students, asylum seekers and humanitarian parole program holders are increasingly treated as a blight on our communities, would I have been granted these opportunities today? How many Venezuelan, Haitian, Afghan versions of myself are at risk of deportation because the Trump administration has revoked their Temporary Protected Status or shut down the country’s refugee resettlement program for most people?
I’m proud of my journey, but I’m not special.
I’m not a scientist working on cancer research or a millionaire like the foreigners to whom President Donald Trump wants to grant “gold visas” for $5 million. I’m a working person trying to climb my way up in life, like so many other immigrants who have built this nation. I have a very Miami story.
I love America, even though, as an opinion writer for the Miami Herald and, previously, other papers, I’ve often criticized the policies of American politicians and institutions. I’m not a threat to this nation, so I’m rattled when I hear the story of the international student in South Dakota who said she had her student visa revoked over a 4-year-old traffic infraction resulting from failing to yield to an emergency vehicle.
I, too, was once a student on a visa. As I write about my experience, there’s a part of me that tells me not to run the risk of becoming a target of the government. How easy it is to go from a “good” immigrant to a “bad” one under Trump.
That student, Priya Saxena from India, received a doctorate degree in chemical and biological engineering and a master’s in chemical engineering — all while the Trump administration tried to deport her. Meanwhile, the U.S. needs people with STEM degrees. On Thursday, Saxena was granted a preliminary injunction that keeps the government from attempting to deport her, NBC News reported.
Yes, I also support border security. I’m for deporting people here without documentation who have committed crimes or people on visas who have been proven — not just because the president says so — to be engaged in nefarious activities.
The problem is the wholesale approach that the Trump administration has used to address our broken immigration system with mass deportations, bypassing due process, and revoking legal status that the U.S. government granted to people from certain countries. In the frenzy to shut the door to as many migrants as possible, the country risks losing sight of the importance of immigration. The psychological terror imposed on those wondering if they will be forced to go back to a dictatorship in Venezuela or gang violence in Haiti is also bad for the U.S.
As for the people here without documents, I know from experience that many, if not most, of them are also contributing to the U.S. with their labor. A system must be in place to allow at least some of them a pathway to legalization. Deportations, of course, will happen, but why remove people like the Tampa mom separated from her U.S. citizen husband and 1-year-old child when she was recently sent back to Cuba?
Data that shows we need more immigrants, not less.
The nation’s unemployment rate remains low — Miami-Dade’s was 2.8% in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce — not a liberal organization — in 2022 advocated for allowing twice as many legal workers into the country. In an April 2025 report titled “Understanding America’s Labor Shortage,” the Chamber wrote that, although there are more Americans working today than before the pandemic, “the overall share of the population participating in the labor force has dropped.” Among the reasons: “Net international migration to the U.S. is at its lowest level in decades.”
Unfortunately, there are no serious talks on Capitol Hill about immigration reform. There are a few exceptions, such as Miami’s U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican who has proposed her own reform called the “Dignity Act.”
Without sensible solutions, we’re left with cruelty, retribution and anti-foreigner sentiment. These should not be America’s immigration policy.
Isadora Rangel is a member of the Miami Herald Editorial Board. She was born in Brazil.
This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
