Growing up in a developing country, there are a few things you are born knowing: 1. Politicians are corrupt and cause public systems to fail. 2. The law doesn’t protect you; its only purpose is to protect the rich and powerful. 3. Our impression was that none of these societal flaws happen in the United States. In the U.S., people have rights that are actually enforced and protected, and have the resources to achieve their dreams. For these reasons, I was thrilled to leave my home country and move to the U.S. in 2019. Although some of U.S. President Donald Trump’s old immigration policies scared my family and me because we were on visas, I believed our future in the U.S. would be secure once we got our green cards. I thought achieving permanent legal resident status meant I could stop worrying about my rights and finally feel like any other American.

Only four years later, though, I find myself being forced to remain anonymous while writing this piece in fear of being deported by the Trump Administration for simply exercising my First Amendment rights. In the short time since the administration took over, almost all of the beliefs I held about the U.S. have been torn apart. The administration has shown blatant disregard for Constitutional rights and laws, especially free speech and due process. It’s now become clear that anyone who opposes their political views may face consequences. For example, the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and green card holder who was arrested without a warrant for exercising his rights, was unprecedented. It has green card holders like me wondering, “Am I next?”

Immediately after Trump won, I knew that immigrants across the country would inevitably face strong pushback because of the way Trump spoke about us during his campaign. Trump ran on a platform that dehumanized undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. According to multiple sources, Trump called some undocumented immigrants “not human,” and he labeled their immigration efforts a “migrant invasion.” Still, I believed deportation efforts would focus mainly on those two groups. But as time passed, I saw that he planned to target all immigrants, legal or not. He began by revoking the student visas of hundreds of university students without credible reason. Now, according to Newsweek, the administration is preemptively warning green card holders to behave like “guests” or risk deportation.

All of these events have green card holders like me questioning whether our rights are really protected in America, and whether our future belongs in this country. I’ve come to realize that when I go to college under Trump’s presidency, I’ll have to be careful. I won’t be able to express certain political opinions freely, and I certainly won’t be able to attend protests. If I want to stay in this country, I’ll need to avoid putting myself in the spotlight.

It’s also hard to see how the new administration has affected the immigrant community around me. Since moving, my family has grown close to others from our country — including some who  do not have green cards. During Trump’s first term, I saw how his policies and the uncertainty that came with them scared many of us. According to Forbes, Trump tried to end H-1B visas, which are reserved for highly-skilled foreign nationals. When that happened, some of us had to change our immigration status in a matter of days. Things calmed during the Biden-Harris administration, but now, it has become even worse than before. Those with and without green cards are back to living in fear.

While many actions taken by the Trump administration scare me, I believe now, more than ever, is the time for Americans to speak out for those who can’t. Staying silent only empowers those who violate immigrant rights. All immigrants, documented or not, deserve to be treated with the dignity and justice the U.S. has claimed to stand for. We must act now so that future generations don’t have to fear speaking out like I do.