On March 8, Mahmoud Khalil, a soon-to-be father and a doctoral student at Columbia University, was detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the lobby of his New York apartment building. Targeted for his pro-Palestinian activism, he faces no criminal charges and has not been convicted of a crime. He is a lawful permanent resident who, by definition, is authorized by the U.S. government to live and work in the country. Yet, weeks later, he is still imprisoned in a Louisiana immigration detention facility, far from his wife, who is due to give birth to the couple’s first child this month, and from the legal team working on his defense.

This incident was just one of many last month where the rights of several other immigrants to live freely in this country have been threatened. Some, like Khalil, have been detained or targeted solely based on their speech and beliefs—raising alarm about violations of the constitutional right to free speech—including a community leader in Colorado, a Brown University professor, a Georgetown University researcher, and students at Columbia and the University of Alabama. At the end of March, a surveillance video shared on social media caught six plainclothes ICE agents detaining Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University doctoral student on a valid F-1 visa, as she was walking to meet friends for dinner.

But beyond these prominent incidents are numerous examples of people with longstanding ties or lawful residency in the United States facing detention and deportation, many without powerful legal teams to help them defend their rights. To name only a few: A veteran with lawful status in the United States and multiple U.S. citizens have been targeted. A 10-year-old child recovering from brain surgery has been removed to Mexico with her mixed-status family despite being a U.S. citizen. A green card holder who has lived in the States for 50 years has been detained. Hundreds have been sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador with no chance to defend themselves, including a Maryland man who the Trump administration admits was sent there because of an “administrative error.” Even members of the Mescalero Apache and Navajo tribes have been harassed.

Taken together, these actions by the Trump administration expose an alarming truth that warrants attention and may not be well understood: an incredibly wide swath of people are vulnerable and likely subject to this mass deportation effort. Whether they have lawful permanent residency, a pending case in immigration court, or a valid work visa; whether they own a business, serve in the military, or study in school; whether they have never been arrested, took a guilty plea in their youth, or serve their communities; even whether or not they are a U.S. citizen—this administration is seeking to curtail the freedom and safety of a community far broader than their vilifying “murders and rapists” labels, inflammatory rhetoric, and ghoulish social media posts suggest. These actions threaten to steamroll our most fundamental values and legal protections and destabilize our communities. In response, we must marshal our resources to protect the legal rights and constitutional guarantees many take for granted.

The need for expanded representation

Having access to legal representation can help people defend their rights and seek release from detention. However, unlike Khalil and other high-profile people targeted by this administration, nearly two-thirds of immigrants in detention lack counsel. These court proceedings are highly complex. Immigrants with valid claims cannot be expected to understand the legal arguments in favor of their release or relief from deportation.

From our work building out legal defense representation for immigrants, we know firsthand that the people facing detention and deportation are our neighbors and are central to the fabric of our culture, our economy, and our communities. One in four children in the United States has an immigrant parent. Immigrants comprise nearly 18 percent of our nation’s workforce and have $1.7 trillion in spending power. There are 3.8 million immigrant entrepreneurs. Clients represented in our Safety & Fairness for Everyone Network have lived for, on average, more than ​a decade​ in the United States, and​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ approximately ​82 percent​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ of their children are U.S. citizens.

What truly makes all of us unsafe is a government functioning in an authoritarian manner, bulldozing the rights of people, upending constitutional guarantees, denying lawyers access to federal buildings, and spreading a false narrative to justify astounding attacks on immigrant communities and our fundamental values. We are not witnessing a crackdown on dangerous people; we are witnessing a federal administration that is behaving as if it is above the law and wielding its power to terrorize immigrants and undermine the stability of our communities.

We should not accept this. We can double down on our values and use our resources to fight for the core value of due process. Our state and local leaders can advance policies that invest in local deportation defense funds like more than 55 jurisdictions across the country have already done—to help protect the rights of people like Khalil who are facing detention and family separation.