Immigration Strategy Under Trump Targets Financial Pressure

In Annandale, Va., a man and child left the Immigration Court last May amid growing tensions for immigrants. The Trump administration was applying financial pressure to encourage them to leave the country voluntarily.

Raquel Molina, for nearly 30 years, worked diligently at Boston’s Logan International Airport. An immigrant from El Salvador, she held a valid Social Security number and was authorized to work in the U.S. She cleaned planes, including swabbing toilets and vacuuming aisles. However, last summer, at 65, she was suddenly terminated without warning.

Ms. Molina, along with other long-standing immigrant workers at Logan, found themselves without jobs. Her supervisor informed her that their access to secure airport areas was revoked. The Trump administration had decreed that only U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other permanent residents should have such access. This move was challenged by a lawsuit filed by a labor union in federal court.

I didn’t understand what was going on. I had worked hard at my job. This news put me in a state of shock. — Ms. Molina, living legally in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status.

Her experience is part of President Trump’s wider immigration strategy to make the U.S. less inviting for foreigners. For over a year, officials implemented measures to cut access to jobs, medical care, financial services, tax credits, and even daycare enrollment for immigrants. This strategy aims to drive immigrants out and reduce incentives attracting them to the U.S.

The president’s approach highlights his capacity to alter immigration policies via executive orders and federal regulations without congressional approval. The administration explored creative, low-profile strategies following public backlash against militarized deportation raids in major cities earlier this year.