“Terrifying”: Trump Press Sec Drops Dark Hint about Coming Crackdowns | The New Republic
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“Terrifying”: Trump Press Sec Drops Dark Hint about Coming Crackdowns

As the White House press secretary signals worsening horrors on immigration, Representative Pramila Jayapal explains the common thread linking them together: an effort to foment fear.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in Washington, D.C., on March 5, 2025

The Trump administration just arrested and is moving to deport Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil for being a suspected terrorist sympathizer, even though he has a green card and a U.S. citizen wife. And at Tuesday’s media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dropped an ominous hint, suggesting that this effort is only just beginning. She even suggested pressure on universities to hand over such students is about to intensify in a big way. Meanwhile, Trump is planning to require all noncitizens aged 14 or over to register with the government. His broader aim: to spread a kind of reactionary terror designed to get immigrants to self-deport. We talked to Representative Pramila Jayapal about a new bill she’s introducing that could challenge some of these Trump effortsand about the broader goals of Trump’s campaign, which she calls “terrifying.” Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.