Fear: Reactions to the First Months of the Trump Administration

By: Maximo Legaspi

President Donald Trump signs executive orders on his first day in office (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Controversy has marked the first several months of President Donald Trump’s second term. Mass layoffs of federal workers, systematic deportations, national security breaches, stock market crashes—it seems that his administration cannot go a day without making the headlines. 

Christopher Cruz, a sophomore engineering major, feels a sense of fear in many people regarding the administration’s actions, especially in terms of immigration. 

“A lot of things he’s doing, a lot of people view this as not very constitutional,” Cruz said.

For Janelle Wong, Director of Asian American Studies and Professor of American Studies and Government and Politics at this university, the deportations have been particularly egregious.

“I think it’s really the due process issue and the ways in which those who have permanent residency, for instance, have been subject to deportation [and] visa denials…on the basis of what seems like viewpoint and expression,” Wong said.

Cruz sees such methods as the administration’s ways of grasping for more power and control over the country, from suppressing pro-Palestinian protests with threats of government repercussions to eliminating the Department of Education and more.

Such intimidation tactics, Wong feels, are reminiscent of policies during the Red Scare in the 1950s. 

“There’s two different ways in which immigration enforcement is being used. One is to target those who have spoken out for Palestinian human rights…and the other is something different, which is potential espionage from China,” Wong said.

Trump’s administration has seen much conflict with China, including an ongoing trade war and targeted action against Chinese nationals and international students in the U.S.

Cruz also sees the impacts of Trump’s rhetoric within his own community. Many local Hispanic businesses in his area, such as grocery stores and bodegas, have seen a downturn in activity, likely due to fear around increased activity from ICE.

Since ICE is now allowed to conduct raids in churches and schools, which were previously protected areas under Biden’s administration, Cruz’s brother has worked to raise awareness, passing out cards with important information to his peers.

A large part of Trump’s presidential campaign focused on a harsh response to increasing immigration in the past several years. Much of the messaging around these laws targeted Hispanic and Latino populations, and Cruz feels that this is an extension of ignorance and hatred being perpetuated by the administration.

“I think it’s awful…I feel like it’s ignorant…they’ve been trying to erase history,” Cruz said.

With many recent measures affecting diversity, equity and inclusion methods at universities, Wong feels that such treatment is unfair and is negatively impacting people of color. 

“There’s a lot of resentment against people of color and misunderstanding that learning about people of color is somehow separate from education about the nation as a whole,” Wong said. 

She feels a sense of irony, especially since many programs teaching Asian-American history, including the Asian American Studies Program at this university, are being targeted. 

“The ‘Dear Colleague’ letter that first went out to colleges and universities to discourage DEI actually said that Asian-Americans and whites were being harmed by DEI, when, in fact, we have a program that is quite race-conscious,” Wong said.

Universities and minority communities are, however, not the only groups having to adjust to the current situation.

Federal workers have had a target painted on their backs since before the inauguration and continue to be laid off in massive numbers. Most notably, the Department of Education was nearly completely dismantled with short notice. 

One of the employees affected by the mass layoffs in early March was Megan Baker, who worked for the department in the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education as an area coordinator.

Baker, who is originally from Phoenix, Arizona, worked with the local government in Maricopa County, Arizona for 11 years before moving to Washington, D.C. last January to begin work with the Department of Education. 

“It was my dream job,” Baker said. “I probably would have stayed there for my entire career.”

In the weeks leading up to the layoffs, Baker recalls many of her team members being put on administrative leave for attending DEI initiative training, leaving her and another member to split the work of a five-person team. 

Several weeks later, she and many of her fellow employees received an email telling them to vacate their offices, despite leadership previously telling them they would be unaffected by any potential layoffs.

Baker, who serves as the sole income provider for her family, said that finding a job in recent months has been extremely challenging. After 250 applications, Baker said she’s only received one interview.

“For the executive leadership of the Department of Education and the Trump administration to tell us that we can just go get new jobs— that’s not feasible. Nobody is hiring us,” Baker said. 

Due to the layoffs and rising financial issues, Baker has had to move back to Phoenix with her parents and has had to worry about paying for her daughter’s college tuition at Northern Arizona University.

“[My daughter] has several invisible disabilities, and so she’s not really able to work and go to school at the same time, so being laid off is a huge detriment,” Baker said.

As the federal workforce grows smaller and smaller by the day, she sees potential issues arising with job markets, especially in the DMV area, where almost half a million residents work for the federal government. 

“There’s so many qualified applicants…so it’s going to be tremendously difficult for federal employees to find employment during this time,” Baker said.

For Baker, the department served as a helping institution that was wrongly characterized as a bureaucratic mess by the current administration, which eventually led to its dismantling.

“The Department of Education was only 4% of the federal budget. We were not a huge portion of the budget…like I said, it’s a war on education, but it’s also a war on the citizens of our country,” Baker said.

To her, this is part of several actions that are working against educating American citizens, as the Department of Education not only helped state governments with child education but also with adult education, workforce education, tribal schools and more.

In general, there seems to be a feeling of wariness about the future of Trump’s administration. 

“Do students feel comfortable protesting? Do students feel like they have a say with regard to their federal government and its policies?” Wong said. “It seems like when I ask my students, they seem afraid—more afraid to speak out than they did in the past.” 

Cruz doesn’t hold much hope for the future.

“I think we’re in the ‘mess around and find out’ [time] here in America. We messed around and now we [have] got to find out,” Cruz said.