Angel Palazuelos, a 22-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant with a degree in biomedical engineering, in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, November 6, 2024 (AFP / Olivier Touron)
Since knowing that Donald Trump will return to the White House, Angel Palazuelos has not slept much: at 22, this young undocumented immigrant from Phoenix, Arizona, is haunted by the promises of mass expulsions of the new president.
“I was terrified” when I heard the news, confides this recently graduated biomedical engineering student.
“I'm afraid of being deported, of losing everything I've worked so hard for and, above all, of being separated from my family,” he adds.
This young Mexican has lived in the United States since he was four years old. He is one of the famous “Dreamers”, these migrants who arrived as children who were tolerated, without ever obtaining American nationality.
Throughout the campaign, he heard the Republican billionaire hammer home his violent rhetoric towards migrants who were “poisoning the blood” of America, as well as his plan for mass deportations.
A promise that many experts believe is extremely complicated to implement, costly and even capable of causing a vast economic recession.
Donald Trump has never detailed how he intends to go about it. So, Angel Palazuelos is worried.
“What does mass deportation mean?” he whispers. “Does that include people like me, (…) who came here very young, who didn't have a say?”
– “Suspected” –
José Patiño, an illegal Mexican immigrant aged 35 and working for an association, in his office in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, November 6, 2024 (AFP / Olivier Touron)
The young man is all the more stressed because Arizona has just approved by referendum a law that allows the state police to arrest illegal migrants, a skill normally reserved for the border police, managed by the federal government.
If the text is deemed constitutional, Angel Palazuelos fears a generalization of facial controls.
“What makes someone suspected of being here illegally? Their ability to speak English?” he grumbles. “My grandmother is an American citizen, but she doesn't speak English very well. I speak English, but is it because of the color of my skin that I would be suspected?”
At 35, José Patiño feels “fear” and “sadness”. Because he knows that his situation is more fragile than ever.
This Mexican, employee of the association helping undocumented immigrants Aliento, has lived in the United States since he was six years old. Thanks to the DACA program, created under Barack Obama, he benefited from protections and managed to obtain a work permit.
But this authorization expires in 2025, and Donald Trump wants to end the DACA program. During his last mandate, he had already signed a decree to get rid of it, before the Supreme Court annulled this decision due to a formal defect.
Plunged into uncertainty, José Patiño plans to move to a state that would refuse to report him to the authorities, such as California or Colorado.
– 'Frustrating and hurtful' –
A mural calling to defend the “DACA” law protecting people who arrived in the United States illegally when they were minors, in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, November 6, 2024 (AFP / Olivier Touron)
He experienced the hardship of being an undocumented migrant well during his twenties. At the time, a simple job at McDonald's was an unattainable dream. He couldn't get a driver's license or travel for fear of being deported.
“I don’t want to go back to that kind of life,” he sighs, his eyes misty.
For him, the election of Donald Trump is not only frightening, it is an affront.
“We contribute to this country,” he recalls. “That's what's difficult, is that following the rules, working, paying my taxes, helping this country develop, that's not enough. (…) “It's frustrating and hurtful.”
This tall brunette understands why many Latin Americans, often in economic difficulty, were tempted by the Republican billionaire, one of the keys to his return to the White House.
Those who are in a regular situation prefer to ignore the violent outbursts of the tribune, because they “think that they will not be targeted”, he summarizes. “Many Latinos associate wealth and success with whiteness, and they want to be part of that group and included, rather than being marginalized.”
But he is particularly angry at some of his uncles and cousins, who voted for Donald Trump, after having been undocumented themselves.
“We can't have a conversation together, because it will degenerate into an argument and probably a fight,” he blurted.
