Photo courtesy of the White House
By Mahika Kukday
Since returning to office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has issued over 55 executive orders as of Jan. 24.
Twenty-six of those came on inauguration day, setting the tone for a political agenda targeting immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and an indisputably “America-first” narrative.
“They’re not learning their lessons here,” said Dr. Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi, associate professor of international relations at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. “If you read some of these executive orders, they take very aggressive positions on executive power, some that don’t even make sense.”
Bacardi’s areas of specialization include U.S. domestic and foreign policy, international law and the Arab-Israeli conflict – all of which he teaches upper-level undergraduate courses on. He has also conducted research for the National Security Archive, a non-profit organization that published declassified government documents.
With his understanding of the country’s political affairs, Bacardi spoke with The Crow’s Nest about some of the Trump administration’s actions that are most relevant to university students.
Attempt to end birthright citizenship
According to the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s executive order, entitled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” attempts to interpret the phrase “to the jurisdiction thereof” to broadly exclude the following children from being granted American citizenship at birth:
- The mother was in the U.S. either unlawfully or on temporary status (such as on a student, work or tourist visa) when giving birth.
- And the father was not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident at the time.
“There’s a lot of international students here, and they get a professional degree and they end up setting roots here,” Bacardi explained. He added how they now might have to deal with their child’s uncertain citizenship status, on top of the many existing worries that international students already bear.
Furthermore, the professor clarified that some countries require children to be born on home soil to be considered citizens. In that case, the child may not have access to neither U.S. nor their home country’s citizenship.
Laura Shaw graduated with her bachelor’s degree in political science from USF St. Petersburg in December 2024. She is the child of a former undocumented immigrant.
“Every day I think about how terrifying it must have been for all of those seven years,” Shaw said. Her mother originally came to the United States from Ireland on a visa in 1984. She overstayed her visa, was deported the next year and returned in 1986.
Through the Donnelly Visa program – Congressman Brian Donnelly’s program that authorized 5,000 visas annually for citizens of under-represented countries through a lottery system – Shaw’s mother was finally granted a green card in 1993.
“She doesn’t really talk about it, but she vividly remembers [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents knocking on her door and immediately arresting her and deporting her,” Shaw said.
Shaw and her brother are citizens of this country due to birthright citizenship.
She feels “outraged” that the principle is in question. She said that though she is “not naïve” to the longtime existence of deportation and immigration policies, but “the fact that that man has allowed ICE agents to go into schools and take children from classrooms is disgusting and appalling and un-American.”
While at USF St. Petersburg, Shaw was part of Student Government for three years and led the campaigning for Florida’s proposed constitutional amendment of Nov. 2024 to end government interference in abortion.
Photo courtesy of Laura Shaw
“I think it’s highly likely that the [Supreme] Court is going to deem it unconstitutional,” Bacardi theorized, regarding the executive order to end birthright citizenship.
On Jan. 23, U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour blocked the order, declaring it “blatantly unconstitutional,” according to Reuters. The order can’t be enforced for another 14 days, pending further legal proceedings.
Crackdown on deportation and border security
“The rhetoric of hate and extremism being normalized in our country is very frightening to me,” said Alexa Matos, a political science senior at USF St. Petersburg and president of the USF College Democrats.
Matos is Puerto Rican, making her a U.S. citizen due to Puerto Rico’s classification as a U.S. territory.
“I don’t look like how a Trump American would want me to look, I look very Puerto Rican,” Matos said. “And that’s very nerve-wracking to me because if I’m in a situation where ICE arrives, I don’t know if I would be detained or not.”
Photo courtesy of Alexa Matos
Trump’s “Securing Our Borders” executive order is sharp call to action for resuming work on the Mexican border wall, detaining those who are suspected to be unlawful migrants “to the maximum extent authorized by law,” and mobilizing federal agents to block the southern border.
A second order declares a national emergency at the same border, completely closing it to almost all migrants. Trump refers to Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution which states that the United States must protect the States from “invasion.”
“He’s saying that these people are coming in, so it’s an invasion, so it’s a national emergency,” Bacardi said. “That’s a very controversial interpretation of the law. No foreign army is trying to invade.”
And although Bacardi suspects this order will also eventually be deemed unconstitutional, the message it sends scares Matos.
Trump also indefinitely suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, citing an inability to “absorb large number of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans…”
According to the Associated Press, these actions left thousands of refugees who had already obtained the tedious approval needed to seek legal asylum in the U.S. with nowhere to go.
“I’m just in a period of angst,” Matos said. “As a political science major who specializes in campaigns, I really understand the essence of what’s coming.”
Shaw added that she dislikes the narrative that immigrants are anything but “upstanding members of society.”
“These policies are dehumanizing, disgusting and lack all regard for the fact that these are real people with real lives,” she said.
Anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-inclusion efforts
“Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the ‘American Dream’ should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.”
That’s the reasoning that Trump uses in one of multiple executive orders that dismantle federal DEI protections, historically aimed at affording marginalized communities the same opportunities as everyone else.
The president also declared that the U.S. government would only accept two sexes – male and female – in an effort to “defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience.”
This means that all government-issued documents, such as passports, would only use the phrase “sex” in lieu of “gender” and would only accept “male” or “female” as responses.
These actions have instilled anxiety and tension in USF St. Petersburg’s historically open, inclusive and pro-LGBTQ+ student body and staff.
“It does not feel like he’s making America a very safe place for people who differ in gender or sexuality,” said Lillia Rush, a graphic arts senior. “It’s such an emotionally driven state to try and navigate.”
NBC reported that federal offices committed to inclusion and anti-discrimination have already started to be dismantled. And while federal bans don’t directly apply to states, USF St. Petersburg has been feeling the effects of Governor DeSantis’ 2023 efforts to outlaw DEI programs.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs has been forced to pivot in its planning and administrative language in order to keep its annual Drag Show from being shut down.
Rush, Matos and Shaw all emphasized the importance of finding community and staying empowered during times of hopelessness.
“Elections don’t happen every four years; elections happen in Hillsborough, Tampa, Pinellas,” Matos said, urging anyone who might feel dismayed to feel power in their right to be informed and educated. “We can be part of that movement to elect good people from the ground up.”
At USF St. Petersburg, the Latin American Student Association will host a discussion on current events pertaining to immigration on Jan. 29 starting at 5 p.m..
