One of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises on day one of his new administration is a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants from the United States.

Gov. Spencer Cox announced that Utah’s government would support the incoming presidential administration’s priorities on illegal immigration. 

Gina Crezee, the executive director of the nonprofit Immigrant Legal Services located in Millcreek said, “Undocumented folks came to the door of America, through the airport, the border across Canada or walked through the river and they all came here with the hopes of having a better life. I do not call them illegal. They are just doing exactly what our grandparents did.”

“Are there people in our community that are scared? 100%! Are there people that are documented and going through the process that are scared? 100%!”

“If someone comes to our country and says they are seeking asylum, they are given a one year deadline. It means you better get in your application for asylum within one year of this date and find representation to make your case. If they miss this one year deadline they are ‘hosed’ and they have no shot,” Crezee said.

“There are only five ways to get asylum: political leanings, religion, race, sexual orientation and convention against being tortured by someone in power,” Crezee said.

Crezee talked about one young 12-year-old girl from Honduras. “Her mother was in Utah and the girl stayed in Honduras and lived with grandma who then passed away. A gang moved in and this 12 year old was gang raped horribly.”

“This girl got away and walked from Honduras to the border. She will tell you it was cold, she struggled for food and just sits and cries about what she went through. When she gets to the border she is seven months pregnant from the rape and is seeking asylum,” Crezee tells this story and added, “This is not considered asylum.” 

“The young girl could not seek asylum but did qualify as a special immigrant juvenile or SIJ,” Crezee said.

It is hard to seek asylum but these folks are desperate and returning to their country is not a safe option so many will stay here and work in jobs that other Americans might not be willing to work and get paid under the table. 

“After you apply for asylum, you wait 150 days and you can apply for an employment authorization document or EAD which is a work permit, but these can be revoked and it happens,” Crezee said.

Crezee stated that “There are between 11 million or 20 million undocumented or potentially documented people in this country.” Crezee said this number includes deferred action for childhood arrivals or DACA recipients who are not citizens but are documented. 

A DACA recipient using the name Maria to protect herself and her family said she is “scared to death.”

“DACA, when it first was introduced by Obama, was a way for children who were brought to the U.S. at a very young age who didn’t have a choice because our parents brought us here to be able to obtain a better way of life and a way to work and be successful,” Maria said.

“What the DACA program is, is a work permit essentially for only two years. We have to pay over $600 to renew it and if you hire an attorney or someone to represent you and fill out the paperwork, some offices charge over $500 to do that,” Maria said.

Maria said DACA recipients receive no finanical aid like FAFS loans for college unless they are private loans through your bank. 

“Interest rates are through the roof because they are only guaranteed for two years,” Maria said.

“There are certain states that will not allow DACA recipients to pursue certain careers like becoming lawyers, nurses, doctors and you cannot apply for scholarships. There are private scholarships just for DACA and people in the Hispanic community, but hard to earn them since you are competing with everyone else in the community,” Maria said.

She says she constantly lives in fear. 

“There is no pathway to citizenship through DACA. If you get pulled over for a traffic citation, there is a possibility that you could lose that DACA status,” added Maria. 

DACA is no longer an option for new applicants but those with DACA status can still go through the renewal process.

“Some folks seeking a better way of life have been here 20 or 30 years but could not seek asylum,” Crezee said. “These folks entered without inspection, not with immigration and customs agents, ICE, and now they are here. They do not qualify for any benefits and they are on what I like to refer to as the ‘Island of Misfit Toys.’” 

“Every time they go to the grocery store, fill up with gas or buy anything, they’re paying taxes. A misconception is that these immigrants are getting food stamps but they cannot get this,” added Crezee.

“There is nothing for them here but to have a better life than what they had in their country. I have clients from an Asian country where they owned a high tech business company that they gave up to come to America,” Crezee said.

Miguel, his wife and two daughters are originally from Venezuela. He is using the name Miguel to protect himself and his family. Miguel stated they are all very anxious and concerned about what might happen to them when the new administration takes over. 

“I came to Utah in 2023 from Ecuador where I lived with my family since 2016 after we left Venezuela," Miguel said. “We left both countries due to insecurities and the harsh economic situation.”

“Like all immigrants, we worry about the future. During the next year we will try to stay legally here. In my case, I’m trying to get a professional visa that allows me to stay and still work here,” Miguel said. Miguel currently has a full-time job through the University of Utah.

“This country and the people have been very generous to us. Until now we have very good relationships with all the people that we have known since we arrived. Our family and friends in Venezuela and Ecuador have always worried about our destiny. We help them as much as we can, so our permanency here is very important to them and us,” Miguel said.

There is a huge impact on mental health from immigration on the immigrants as Crezee explained, “First you apply for asylum, then apply for the EAD and if you don’t qualify, you are done. You can appeal it but if you don’t win, you are done. If you do win, then you have to apply for your green card which is one year later. Then you have to apply for citizenship which can take years and cost $20,000 to $30,000 and that is just for one person in the family.”

Crezee explained about the impact on the mental health of the children of these immigrant families: “Maria had to be pulled out of school as a child and go to every doctor's appointment with her parents so she could translate, to the DMV to translate, and taken to the hospital to translate for a family member. She was still expected to go to school and do well as a DACA recipient. The impact on the kids' mental health if they mistranslate and the fear these kids have of that is pretty horrible.”

“The mass deportation that has been proposed could affect the economy and people will be scared but it could take the new administration a very long time and may not follow through with this campaign promise,” Crezee said. “The business community will rise up and the chambers all support immigration and immigration reform. The businesses need these people to work.” 

More information can be found at www.immigrantlegalservices.org/.λ