Donald Trump’s executive order, “Securing Our Borders,” is not about security, sovereignty, or public safety—it is a fear-mongering manifesto designed to vilify immigrants, dehumanize asylum seekers, and justify cruelty under the false pretense of law and order. It is a desperate attempt to resurrect his failed policies, catering to a base that thrives on division, paranoia, and outright lies.

Let’s start with the blatant dishonesty baked into this order. Trump calls migration an “invasion”—a word meant to stir up xenophobic hysteria rather than reflect reality. Immigrants aren’t an invading army; they are families, workers, and individuals seeking safety and opportunity, many of whom are fleeing violence, corruption, and conditions that the U.S. has often played a role in creating. But Trump’s order doesn’t acknowledge them as human beings—it treats them as an existential threat, using the language of war to justify inhumane policies.

And then there’s the absurdity of his border wall obsession. He clings to this fantasy that a wall will somehow stop migration despite overwhelming evidence that it doesn’t work. People don’t come to the U.S. solely by sneaking through gaps in a fence; they arrive at legal ports of entry, seek asylum, overstay visas, or find other means to enter. Yet Trump insists on wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a medieval monument to his own ego—a wall that smugglers have already cut through, climbed over, and laughed at.

Even worse, this order guts asylum protections under the false pretense of “security.” It reinstates the Migrant Protection Protocols, a policy that forced asylum seekers to wait in dangerous, cartel-ridden border towns where they were robbed, raped, kidnapped, and murdered. It seeks to eliminate legal pathways for people fleeing persecution, essentially telling victims of war and violence: Sorry, America is closed.

And let’s not ignore the racial and political undertones of this order. It targets certain immigrant groups for parole elimination while pretending to be about law enforcement. The unstated message is clear: immigrants of certain backgrounds—particularly from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa—are not welcome. Trump has long pushed for policies that prioritize white, European immigrants while shutting out brown and Black migrants. This order is simply another extension of that racist agenda.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, this order criminalizes compassion. It threatens to prosecute those who assist undocumented immigrants, including faith groups, aid workers, and humanitarian organizations. It encourages mass surveillance, DNA collection, and a law-enforcement-first approach to what is fundamentally a humanitarian issue.

Meanwhile, Trump conveniently ignores reality: Immigration fuels America’s economy. Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes, fill crucial labor shortages, and contribute to industries that would collapse without them. The very cities Trump cites as “burdened” by migrants are the same ones relying on immigrant workers to keep their economies alive. But instead of embracing facts, this executive order doubles down on the lie that immigrants are a drain, rather than a backbone, of the U.S. economy.

This order isn’t about protecting America—it’s about dismantling its moral compass. It uses fear as a weapon, cruelty as policy, and division as strategy. It doesn’t “secure” anything—it weakens the nation by turning it into an unwelcoming, hostile, and isolationist country.

This isn’t leadership. It’s cowardice. It’s the weaponization of xenophobia. And history will remember it as another shameful, failed attempt to turn America into a fortress of fear rather than a beacon of hope.