Lost angels: How the West is turning against the very immigrants who helped build it

José Luis — a Mexican father of five — has lived in Texas since 2010, working hard to support his family. In February, while simply stopping to pump gas on his way to work, José was handcuffed and taken away by ICE agents (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Though he was not a criminal, his fate was sealed with deportation, forcing a painful separation from the family who depended on his income.

The US has witnessed a sharp and steady rise in deportations since the beginning of 2024. In the very first month of President Trump's second term, immigration authorities deported approximately 37,660 individuals — a figure that set the tone for an aggressive new enforcement drive.

By 3 May, ICE reported a total of 72,179 removals, effectively doubling the figures from the initial months. During the same period, immigration arrests also surged, with more than 66,000 individuals detained.

These numbers mark one of the most significant short-term increases in deportation activity in recent US history, underscoring the Trump White House's serious intent to reach its reported target of one million deportations annually.

Just as José Luis's life was upended while going about a routine task, California residents faced similar shocks when ICE raided a day-labour hub in Los Angeles earlier this month. On 6 June and 7 June, agents targeted areas where day labourers typically gather, including a Home Depot parking lot near downtown LA.

Anger spread after agents in masks and bulletproof vests detained both undocumented migrants and legally residing individuals. According to AP News, more than 100 people were held — some with lawful status — alongside 44 formally arrested on immigration violations during the initial raids.

These operations at day-labour sites triggered mass demonstrations, which President Trump seized as an opportunity to deploy the National Guard, and later, the Marines. He announced the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines, citing fears of a "foreign invasion," and labelled the protesters as "paid insurrectionists," warning that similar shows of force would follow.

California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom condemned Trump's move as "democracy under assault," while anti-ICE protests quickly spread beyond Los Angeles to cities like New York, Texas, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Just as José's children anxiously wondered about their father's fate, many workers' families waited in fear. One man told the US press that he came home to find his kids crying, asking, "Does Daddy still have a job? Did he go back to work?"

The rising hatred against immigrants 

The LA unrest marks the latest chapter in the shifting landscape of American immigration. In 1960, 9.7 million foreign-born individuals made up 5.4% of the US population. By 1970, this share slipped to 4.7% (9.6 million), roughly a third of the early 20th-century peak of 14–15% in 1910.

Post-1965 reforms sparked a new migration boom. By 2023, the foreign-born population had reached 47.8 million (14.3%) — the highest share in more than a century, though still slightly below the 14.7% peak of 1910.

But as immigration numbers rose, so did hate crimes.

In Manhattan, for example, only one hate crime prosecution based on national origin was recorded in 2023; this jumped to 10 cases in 2024.

Today, immigrants make up 17% of the US labour force, account for 36% of agricultural workers, 25% of healthcare aides, and 24% of construction labourers. In Europe, immigrants continue to fill labour shortages in countries like Germany, which faces an ageing population, thus sustaining its manufacturing and service sectors.

According to FBI data, 11,862 hate crime incidents were reported nationwide in 2023, mostly motivated by race or ethnicity. Anti-Latino incidents rose 10%, anti-Arab offences surged 34%, and nearly one-third of Asian Americans reported being targeted while 407 anti-Asian hate crimes were recorded.

While immigrants also faced hostility in the 1960s, comprehensive documentation was lacking. Back then, the recorded number of hate crimes stood around 9,400 annually, half motivated by race or ethnicity. By 2023, that figure had risen to nearly 12,000.

The same tide rising in Europe

In fact, hostility toward immigrants — and the politics fuelling it — is rapidly growing across Europe. In Germany, France and Italy, hate crimes against Muslims, Jews and African migrants have surged; Germany alone reported over 1,200 anti-immigrant offences in 2023.

Attacks against Syrian and Somali refugees are steadily rising in Sweden, while Bangladeshis have been assaulted in Greece. France saw a 32% increase in anti-Muslim acts in 2023.

Anti-immigrant sentiment has also become a major political tool across Europe. In Italy, Matteo Salvini's League Party ran a fierce anti-immigrant campaign, blaming migrants for crime and unemployment.

In France, Marine Le Pen's National Rally pushed similar themes, linking immigration to national insecurity, fuelling her growing popularity. Hungary's Viktor Orbán has made anti-immigration rhetoric central to his government, warning of a so-called "Muslim invasion" and building Trump-like border fences.

In Germany, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has capitalised on fears stemming from the 2015 refugee crisis, linking migrants to terrorism and job loss.

These populist strategists stoked public fears of economic decline, cultural loss, crime, and terrorism, despite no strong evidence of such connections, creating a fear-driven political environment.

Immigrants — the builders 

Immigrants, so often vilified, have in fact been the builders of both the US and the West.

In the 19th century, millions of Irish, German, and Chinese immigrants built America's canals, railroads, and industrial cities like Pittsburgh and Chicago.

In the 20th century, Italian and Eastern European immigrants powered the factories of New York and Detroit, helping transform the US into an industrial leader. By 1910, about 15% of the US population was foreign-born.

But this figure only accounts for first-generation immigrants. If we include their second- and third-generation descendants, nearly the entire US population, except for Native Americans, comes from immigrant roots.

The story is much the same in Europe. After World War II, Western Europe invited 'guest workers' from Turkey, South Asia and North Africa to help rebuild its war-torn economies.

Immigrants and their children have gone on to found 45% of Fortune 500 companies — including Google and, yes, Tesla, led by Elon Musk, the very figure recently distanced by Trump's anti-immigrant administration.

Today, immigrants make up 17% of the US labour force, account for 36% of agricultural workers, 25% of healthcare aides, and 24% of construction labourers. In 2021 alone, immigrant-led households contributed $524 billion in taxes and held $1.3 trillion in spending power.

In Europe, immigrants continue to fill labour shortages in countries like Germany, which faces an ageing population, thus sustaining its manufacturing and service sectors. Without immigrants, both regions risk severe labour gaps, declining innovation, and unsustainable welfare systems.

If all immigrants were deported, these nations could spiral into an endless cycle of labour shortages, economic contraction, slowed innovation, and the crushing weight of an ageing population.

The fear campaign and what's next?

There's economic anxiety — real or perceived — along with cultural and demographic fears, political manipulation, misinformation and media amplification, terrorism and security concerns, and global refugee crises.

But what stands out most is resentment. This stems from the "great replacement" narrative — that immigrants are essentially taking over their jobs, their lives, and their country. Once confined to fringe forums or conspiracy theorists, this idea has now entered mainstream politics across the West.

For example, a 2020 poll showed that 61% of Trump voters believed immigrants were "replacing" Americans, highlighting how xenophobic ideas have become mainstream.

Extremist groups like Patriot Front exploit these narratives as recruitment tools. Meanwhile, the federal deployment of troops in Los Angeles has set a new benchmark for authoritarian approaches to immigration enforcement, normalising militarised actions against immigrants.

Deploying active-duty forces in a sanctuary city — US cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement such as ICE — is unprecedented since the 1960s. The Pentagon reported the cost of this domestic operation at $134 million, raising concerns over legal clarity and civil-military boundaries.

What's happening in Los Angeles is more than a moment; it is a mirror reflecting a sobering truth beyond the headlines: immigrants are not the problem but the solution. They are the very people who built, or helped build, the United States and the West.

Yet, the vilification of this vital force has been turned into profitable politics. It remains to be seen whether Los Angeles marks the start of a new wave of Western aggression against immigrants.