Amnesty International (AI) stated on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office were marked by authoritarian behavior and discriminatory policies that weakened the rule of law and damaged human rights protections. Mass deportations, attacks of freedom of expression, and the erosion of rights for women and LGBTQIA+ communities, have created in the country a climate of fear, where speaking up for human rights may lead to punishment.
Although the White House stated on Tuesday that “President Donald J. Trump has accomplished more in 100 days than most presidents do over an entire term,” noting a reported 95 percent drop in the daily border apprehensions, AI found that such statements overlook the harsh measures taken to achieve these numbers, and raised serious concerns about the human cost behind the statistics.
Reports allege that Trump has not focused on removing immigrants who pose a threat to public safety, but has instead treated all those suspected of lacking legal status as criminals. According to these reports, this has led to pregnant women being shackled like drug traffickers in front of their children and working fathers permanently separated from their families, leaving children homeless and traumatized—many of whom had already survived kidnapping, torture, sexual violence, or were forced to witness assaults or the murder of relatives before fleeing for the US.
There have even been reports of wrongful targeting of US veterans and citizens based on race or skin color. Just last month, a US citizen was wrongly detained by the Border Patrol for nearly 10 days. Regardless of legal status, detainees in US immigration detention centers often face inhumane conditions, including medical neglect, preventable deaths, rats infestations, overflowing toilets, severe overcrowding, and even torture methods such as solitary confinement, force-feeding, waterboarding and sleep deprivation.
In January, the Trump administration released a memo instructing federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to obligations or disbursement of all federal financial assistance”. Among the hardest hit were Head Start, which serve around 800,000 children and experienced a funding freeze. Despite federal officials’ claims that the pause was never intended to apply to such organizations, Trump is reportedly preparing a budget proposal that would shut down the program entirely. As other domestic programs face similar threats, foreign aid is also collapsing, with USAID reporting an 83% staff reduction.
The abrupt cancellation of over 1,200 students visas, and the freezing of $1 billion in funding for Cornell, $790 million for Northwestern and $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard have raised additional concerns about the future of the younger generation and squeezed for funds, institutions that dare to challenge the government’s overreach of lawful authority.
Referencing its report, “Chaos & Cruelty: 10 Compounding assaults on Human Rights,” AI and other human rights organizations have demanded an end to the fostering of a climate of fear and division and urged protection of the integrity of all human beings.
