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Poland fears undocumented Poles could be deported [1]

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Date: 2025-01-26

The Polish government is concerned that as many as 30,000 of its citizens who are in the U.S. illegally could be deported, especially those “who travelled to the US in the 1990s and did not take care of their migration status.” They needn’t worry. In truth, there’s essentially zero chance ICE will be rounding up illegal Poles. They have other priorities. The simple truth is that Poles don’t look like ICE’s—ahem—target demographic, which is Hispanics. For that reason, Poles—whether legal or not—are safe for the foreseeable future.

We can expect ICE under Trump to function pretty much like his pardons did. There supposedly wasn’t time to examine and vet individual cases so he simply pardoned everyone, whether it was a remotely good idea or not. When questioned about some of his more egregious pardons, he’s said he’d have to look into them. Of course, the time to look into them was before he issued the pardons. Now it’s too late. The truth is, doing it right would’ve required thought, patience, focus, and—you know—actual work, none of which describe Trump (except perhaps for his focus on grievances). His attitude was essentially, “pardon them all and let God sort them out.” ICE will undoubtedly take its cue from him and take the same approach. And if a few innocent people get caught up in the process, that’s okay.

Trump has pledged to deport “millions and millions of criminal aliens” (meaning non-white ones) so in comparison a few thousand Poles will be no big deal, even if you could spot them by looking. ICE has their marching orders. We’ve already seen a U.S. citizen and veteran snatched up in New Jersey along with actual undocumented immigrants because he was Puerto Rican—meaning a citizen—but still fit the profile. In the process, the ICE agents involved questioned his military documentation. The inherent racism is both obvious and palpable. ICE is aware that its agents “may encounter U.S. citizens” during the performance of their duties but in practice, what to do about it seems a bit nebulous.

ICE will go to places—cities and businesses—with high Hispanic representation and make their arrests and seizures there because it’s easier than actually tracking down undocumented immigrants who might have committed crimes. This will probably last until Trump’s business cronies realize not having cheap labor is hurting their bottom line.

This won’t be the end. But if you’re Polish and an undocumented immigrant, don’t worry. The Polish government apparently doesn’t know much about the U.S. They must not know about racism. But we do. So if you’re Polish and undocumented, don’t worry. They’re not coming after you.

(See: https://www.yahoo.com/news/warsaw-fears-us-authorities-could-172927968.html

https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-pardon-power-ross-ulbricht-rcna188993

https://www.barrons.com/news/trump-says-will-deport-millions-and-millions-of-criminal-aliens-15477af3

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/26/2299437/-Poland-fears-undocumented-Poles-could-be-deported?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

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