Expert aghast at Trump admin's scheme to turn legal immigration system into a 'trap'

A new report about the Trump administration's "assault on legal immigration" left one expert aghast on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump campaigned on deporting all illegal immigrants in the U.S. Since taking office, he has empowered the Department of Homeland Security to take active measures to achieve that goal, including setting a quota of 3,000 arrests per month, according to reports. But Trump's plan also appears to include turning the legal immigration process into a trap, The New Yorker reported.

"Even as Donald Trump has turned the agencies of DHS into something of a roving personal police force, his Administration has prosecuted a quieter but no less ambitious assault on legal immigration," the outlet reported. "Green cards and visas for people from dozens of countries have been frozen indefinitely, and the Administration has cancelled naturalization ceremonies. Immigrants and asylum seekers in the middle of the application process have been detained during routine interviews."

Immigration lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick called the report "incredible."

"It exposes the ways in which the Trump admin is turning the legal immigration system into yet another arm of the mass deportation machine, transforming a benefits agency into a trap for those seeking legal status," he posted on Bluesky.

The report comes as the Trump administration's immigration practices receive increased scrutiny. In January, the administration's immigration forces shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, which sparked outrage and protests nationwide.

The administration has since ended its surge in Minneapolis and replaced former Customs and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino with border czar Tom Homan.

Read the entire report by clicking here.