(Photo by Mikhail Kelner via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0)
In the Americas and the Caribbean, refugees and immigrants are experiencing an increase in arbitrary criminalization and hostility. At the forefront, President Donald Trump of the United States promised to fix high crime rates and poverty concerns of American voters through deportation, making immigrants and refugees scapegoats for societal ills. However, many of his fellow leaders of the Americas have followed a similar path towards utilizing immigration policy to address economic downturns or high crime rates inadequately. While some of these criminalization of immigration policies began before Trump’s second administration, they build on the harmful rhetoric that Trump made popular in his first term.
The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and El Salvador all exemplify a downturn in the last few years in the Americas and Caribbean regions regarding the ways they manage the residency of refugees and immigrants. By targeting those most vulnerable and increasing the risk of fleeing violence being deported back to said violence, these countries provide cruel and small-minded solutions instead of pursuing or assisting with solutions that reduce the reasons people flee their homes in the first place. In addition, these pursued policies of deportation and incarceration likely will deteriorate international cooperation when it comes to refugee and immigrant needs.
Each of these countries, including the U.S., ignores the larger reasons people are fleeing, which cause conflict or climate change, and as such resorts to quick and often cruel solutions to problems that require diplomacy or aid to mitigate the effects of conflict or climate change. The lack of recognition of the current crisis of forced displacement at an international level, much less respect for accords for refugees and immigrants, means forcing migrants between a rock and a hard place.
An Island in Crisis
Over the past year, the Dominican Republic has made efforts to deport Haitian refugees, citing threats to stability and overwhelmed resources. Haiti has had many people flee to the Dominican Republic and other countries in recent years due to extensive gang warfare in the nation. Deportation efforts come despite evidence of the importance of Haitians to the Dominican Republic’s economy. Despite being neighbouring countries and important economic partners, many Haitians—newcomers and long-time residents alike—have experienced discrimination in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Republic President called on the international community in the summer of 2025 to assist with the crisis in Haiti. Rather than coming to aid, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began targeting Haitian refugees. In comparison, the former U.S. administration of President Joe Biden promoted sending assistance to Haiti for peacekeeping and refugee aid, offering Haitians Temporary Protected Status. Trump’s administration, in contrast, has cut U.S. aid to much of the world and refugee statuses in the U.S., creating more desperation in Haiti by increasing the number of people dependent on limited resources and security.
Threats of deportation for Haitian refugees compound additional stressors facing migrants as they work to integrate into a new environment. Deportations, for example, can cause complications with health care, with access to treatment differing between nations. Additionally, deportations may create more instability, forcing individuals back into cycles of violence in unsafe places in Haiti and elsewhere.
Ultimately, while national leaders might find that responding to economic hardships or increased crime through deportations or incarceration of refugees or immigrants produces short-term answers. This deportation process worsens the situation on a larger scale by draining resources for social services or refugee aid and putting them towards increasing border control or police forces.
Crisis of Criminal Jurisdiction
Ecuador represents a shift in deportation efforts by moving migrants with little to no notice. This year, Ecuador has begun deporting Colombian prisoners without coordination with Colombia. Ecuador’s tactic lacks accountability in ensuring the proper administration of prisoner returns. If Ecuador’s claims of criminality are valid convictions, failure to coordinate prisoner deportations does not guarantee the improvement of safety promised by politicians. Lack of coordination in deportation can increase hostile border control, harming surrounding communities in the process.
In comparison, the Colombian government has hosted millions of Venezuelans, even with public sentiment hardening in Colombia. Colombia is experiencing a refugee crisis on both sides of the spectrum, with Colombians immigrating to the U.S.. In the midst of a changing trade landscape, Trump started returning Colombian migrants earlier this year, with the backdrop of an international trade war. The shift towards populist or authoritarian leaders has normalised, undermining the rights of refugees and immigrants at the international level. The forced deportation of migrants places receiving countries in a difficult position.
Ultimately, much like for Haiti, the return of migrants and refugees hurts the stability of both countries with a lack of consideration for long-term impacts. For example, at a base level, the loss of community trust and the willingness to help others as a result of fear of deportations of migrant persons amongst the community. Similarities between Trump and President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador’s willingness to use tactics of criminalization and deportation break down norms of immigration rights. Dismantling of immigration rights can lead to the erosion of citizens’ rights, either through nefarious intention or poorly applied enforcement.
Deportation’s Endpoint
The increase in deportations includes more partnerships between countries in which the deporting country aims to withdraw responsibility for an immigrant’s or refugee’s well-being. The deporting country takes advantage of a receiving country’s lack of rights or response allotted to a deported refugee or immigrant. The most prominent example of this in the Americas is with El Salvador’s direct connection to Trump’s deportation policies, given their recent collaboration through deportation imprisonment in places like the Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT). Critical reports of CECOT for its lack of rehabilitation efforts for prisoners and the lack of transparency in treatment.
El Salvador and the U.S. exemplify the most notorious criminalisation of refugees and migrants. By profiting from payment to hold other countries‘ deportees, El Salvador shows an ominous reality of authoritarian countries doing the dirty work of illiberal countries to avoid repercussions for political mistakes.
With little recourse and little tracking of the incarceration of immigrants, jailing individuals can be a lifelong prison sentence for anyone framed for criminal activity in their host country. Detention camps place lives on hold, dehumanise immigrants, and introduce a new obstacle for immigrants and refugees searching for improved opportunities.
The deportation of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Salvadoran national with refugee status in the U.S., to CECOT under the pretense of an association with a gang called MS-13, among other charges is an example of the breakdown of legal norms when it comes to deportation and refugee rights in the U.S. After intense media pressure, the U.S. government finally returned Kilmar to the U.S, where he will have his day in court. The pressure came from highlighting the integration in which García had with his community in the U.S and his lack of connections to criminal elements.
In addition, the detailed reporting on his deportation to CECOT without any chance for response in court prior and the U.S government’s unwillingness to follow up on his case after the rights of Garcia were violated. The media can be a powerful tool for migrants to ensure transparency and accountability, to avoid or address human rights abuses in situations where the legal system has failed or been corrupted by nefarious aims.
Refugee Status: Uncertain
Examples of the breakdown of the rule of law and ethical treatment have increased significantly with Trump and similar leaders, due to their willingness to collaborate to disregard international norms and immigration policy. The use of migrants from other countries as scapegoats is a recurring trend, especially amongst these American nations.
Deportations and incarcerations impact immigrant communities and refugees at the most basic levels of humanity, with many returning to unsafe areas or dealing with socioemotional turmoil. Practices of deportation and incarceration provoke distrust and isolate individuals, ultimately placing more strain on national systems.
On a larger scale, the deportation of immigrants or refugees worsens the trust and responsibility of nations at an international level, creating barriers to mutual support in times of strife or economic instability. Nations should take the time to examine how people are pressured to migrate for better lives and help address this issue, rather than locking down borders and deporting those in search of a better life.
Edited by Emma Webb
