Tara Watson

100 Days of immigration under the second Trump administration In a short time, the administration has shifted nearly every aspect of immigration policy in the anti-immigrant direction.

We did our best to distill the extraordinary Administration actions on immigration over past 100 days into ~3500 words. In many ways what we feared, in some ways worse. But the public is starting to have a change of heart.
www.brookings.edu/articles/100...

What will deportations mean for the child welfare system? 5.62 million U.S. citizen children live with an undocumented parent, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, or family friends.

We joined forces with the Center for Migration Studies NY to contemplate the possible implications of widespread detention and deportation for the millions of US citizen children who live with someone lacking status, and for the child welfare system.
www.brookings.edu/articles/wha...

Well said.

Immigrants and the Social Security death master file Adding immigrants to the Social Security death master file undermines both the integrity and the solvency of the Social Security system.

The Trump Administration’s use of the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File for immigration enforcement undermines the integrity and solvency of Social Security. Here is an assessment from Tara Watson and me. See next post on a piece from CBPP.
www.brookings.edu/articles/imm...

Opinion | Trump is killing one of our strongest exports The president wants to balance U.S. trade deficits? He can’t do it without this industry he hates.

This is an important point, and illustrates how interconnected the war on immigrants, the war on trade, and the war on knowledge really are.

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

The NYT and WaPost report the Trump Administration is erroneously adding immigrants to what is known as the “death master file” who are not deceased and have legally obtained an SSN. The Social Security Administration has accepted an initial list of about 6,000 immigrants. 1/5

Social Security classifies thousands of immigrants as dead, as part of Trump crackdown The tactic is aimed at putting pressure on undocumented immigrants to leave the country.

Stuff of distopian nightmares.

Social Security classifies thousands of immigrants as dead, as part of Trump crackdown

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Helpful thread on the steps on the process between the House budget vote today and the major cuts to Medicaid and SNAP that seem likely.

How many migrants has Trump deported? White House announces new numbers The Department of Homeland Security touted a significant rise in removals of illegal immigrants on Tuesday.

Data on deportations are not being published. The numbers DHS is telling the press aren't plausible. Transparency and accuracy of government statistics should be a top 5 issue, even with everything else going on.

www.newsweek.com/mass-deporta...

I'm not "the kind of doctor that helps people", but once in a while can do a bit of good. Proud that my amicus brief with @stanveuger.bsky.social played a role in this temporary victory for Venezulan TPS

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/u...

I've been looking at the Fox website daily for the last two months. Comparing top story headlines to NYT/WaPo is like entering an alternative universe.

But not since yesterday. This thing might have legs.

Too much of what I'm reading focuses on whether individuals "should" be deported or deportable. The first-order thing is that there are due process protections immigrants have, even if undocumented and even if unsympathetic.

Not just immigration policy.

Agreed! Almost of all of it can be summarized by "let's make people constantly uncertain and afraid so they fall in line."

I've been following @daralind.bsky.social and @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social to understand the Mahmoud Khalil situation. A green card holder can be deported on foreign policy grounds without a crime, unclear if that process is happening. The chilling effect on political speech results either way.

Trump immigration enforcement could lead to family separations again President Trump has signaled his intent to dramatically increase deportations of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. There are an estimated 5.5...

www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...

ICE Arrests Pro-Palestinian Activist at Columbia Mahmoud Khalil, who recently completed a graduate program at Columbia, has legal permanent residency, his lawyer said.

There are only limited circumstances under which legal permanent residence can be revoked. I hope there is more to this than currently being reported, b/c ICE rounding up green card holders in retaliation for activism is clearly at odds with democracy & rule of law.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/n...

This is really useful for people trying to understand what is going on with immigration, especially since the monthly OHSS statistics are "delayed while under review".

As I used to do on that other site, it's great to follow @aaronsojourner.org here to get quick &useful anaysis on the monthly jobs report.

2025 Policy Agenda for Family Flourishing Get Tickets Reflections from the Convergence Collaborative on Supports for Working Families Hosted by Convergence Center for Policy Resolution at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy   Date/...

This Covergence group was perhaps the most politically diverse group I've ever worked with. We came up with some common principles to make things better for working families with young children.
convergencepolicy.org/event_post/2...

Too soon.

With Trump back in office, what’s next for the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights? Rachel M. Perera examines how the Trump administration is reshaping the Office for Civil Rights to align with its agenda.

I wrote about what we might expect from the US Dept of Education's Office for Civil Rights under Trump given what they've signaled & their early activity.

So far, we have pretty clear evidence of the admin's plans to weaponize OCR to promote discrimination.

www.brookings.edu/articles/wit...

Did Welfare Reform End the Safety Net as We Knew It? The Record since 1996 (Winter 2025) - This paper examines the evolution of the safety net for low-income families since welfare reform in 1996 promised to "end welfare as we know it". The total package of supports has beco...

@luciegschmidt.bsky.social, Lara Shore-Sheppard and I describe how the safety net has grown and changed since 1996.

www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

So sorry to hear about the passing of Sandy Jencks. He was the genuine article and I am priviliged to have learned from him.

US inflation unexpectedly increases to 3% in January Figure bolsters case for Federal Reserve to proceed slowly with interest rate cuts

But imagine how you'd feel if BLS reported 0% inflation. Legit independent economic statistics are absolutely essential and we shouldn't take them for granted.
www.ft.com/content/311a...

Conversation with Wendell Primus about how to fix Social Security Amy Goldstein asks Wendell Primus about his proposal to restore solvency to the Social Security system and other bipartisan improvements.

"I believe very strongly that our largest social program needs to be bipartisan, and right now, there could not be a larger divide on the Hill about that." Read a conversation with Wendell Primus about how to fix Social Security before 2033.

Fixing Social Security Wendell Primus, Tara Watson, and Jack Smalligan outline a roadmap for strengthening and restoring solvency to the Social Security program.

Finally joining BlueSky, happy to be here!

Wendell Primus has led an effort to show that it is possible to preserve SS solvency and eliminate poverty among the elderly. Expanding immigration is part of the solution.
www.brookings.edu/articles/fix...