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Groups across the D.C. area are working to identify ways to support immigrants as they prepare for Donald Trump鈥檚 return to the White House.

With the House, Senate, and presidency under Republican control starting next year, President-elect Trump is positioned to follow through on campaign promises of mass deportations, leaving many in the immigrant community fearful of what鈥檚 to come.

This week, in a on Truth Social, Trump confirmed his intentions to use the United States military in some capacity to assist in the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.

鈥淚t has been pretty disheartening to hear the language that the president鈥檚 team and himself have used in the past, which dehumanizes us, myself included,鈥� said Americo Perez, son of immigrants and paralegal at the Amica Center for Human Rights.

鈥淚ndividuals and communities, such as the ones we serve, are instrumental to our, well, my personal belief of what the American system–what the American dream is,鈥� he said. 鈥淒isproportionately affecting these vulnerable communities is a great injustice.鈥�

Perez said he grew up two miles north of the Southern Border in Texas and knew from a young age that he wanted to do this kind of work. He said he’s spent his academic and professional career organizing and advocating, and now works in the Children鈥檚 Department at Amica.

The Amica Center provides legal and social services to immigrant children and adults who are detained and at risk of deportation. Perez explained that mass deportation would lead to an increase in the numbers of individuals detained, resulting in the mass incarceration of migrants.

鈥淭he immigration process, and particularly the deportation process takes time, and in that time, you do have individuals placed in detention while they await those planes, buses, or otherwise,鈥� he said.

To him, this is the scariest part.

鈥淭his is going to be something that is going to be long and heartfelt, and I hope that it is something that doesn’t continue to perpetrate the level of trauma that the communities will face.鈥�

Grassroots organizing

While ultimately fearful, groups across the country like Amica are preparing to support immigrants as they await the second Trump presidency.

Ben Jaffe is the president of KAMA DC, a volunteer-led organization that provides a platform for immigrants and refugees in the DMV area to share their stories and skills.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody鈥檚 feeling wonderful right now, but we took our time to, kind of, digest, and now we鈥檙e taking the time to move forward into planning items of action,鈥� he said.

Part of their preparation and planning has included surveying volunteers and members of the community about what they are comfortable with participating in and what they think would be most useful in this new contextual environment.

Using responses from the surveys, KAMA DC has started to brainstorm ways to support individuals and their families. Ideas Jaffe shared included circulating resource documents, working with human rights lawyers, and putting on classes for those who may have just arrived that are taught by people who immigrated years ago.

鈥淚f the policies that have been mentioned come into effect, as I think we unfortunately expect it to, the DMV community as a whole is, I think, very strong and very ready to help support our neighbors and friends and everybody who needs it,鈥� said Jaffe.

Cross-generational threats

During his first term, Trump embraced a 鈥渮ero-tolerance鈥� policy that ultimately led an estimate of over 5,000 families being separated, sparking national backlash.

Tom Homan, former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, was a staunch advocate for the policy during Trump鈥檚 first term. He will be joining the president-elect in the incoming administration to continue his work on border control and has not ruled out the reinstatement of zero-tolerance.

For some, these announcements from the incoming administration serve as signals and have prompted fears of family separation to creep back in.

Allison Wallen, who works in the Center of Diversity and Inclusion at American University (CDI), has met since the election with a number of students who are the children of immigrants or immigrants themselves.

Since the CDI and the wider university are still working on how to respond and best show up for their students, Wallen鈥檚 role in the weeks since the results were called has been to console students who come to her asking if she thinks they will be okay.

鈥淚t’s just that level of, like, you know, you always had a sense of protection, and now it’s like, wait a minute, I don’t really have that anymore,鈥� said Wallen. 鈥淚 think that’s the best way to describe it.鈥�

Similar to KAMA DC, the university is working to take the temperature of its students and is trying to design systems that support the community in the ways they need. Right now, Wallen is doing what she can to support the individuals that come to her, and she anticipates a wider university response and support system once the policies begin to be implemented.