In a filled AMU Lunda Room, Marquette sociology professor Louise Cainkar presented her insights into current happenings in the U.S. immigration system and connections to Project 2025.
Project 2025 is a 900-page document written by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation that outlines a plan to reshape the U.S. federal government to favor right-wing policies.
President Donald Trump repeatedly disassociated himself with Project 2025 during the 2024 campaign, however several people associated with the plan currently serve in his administration. Russell Vought, the principal author of Project 2025, currently serves as the director of the Federal Office of Management and Budget.
Other personnel who contributed the plan include Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and former Acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan.
Cainkar outlined what she claims to be striking similarities between proposals in Project 2025 and immigration policy changes under Trump’s administration.
One of the highlighted policies included the elimination of a Joe Biden-era policy classifying locations such as schools, hospitals and places of worship as immigration “sensitive zones.” ICE agents were previously prohibited from conducting raids in these locations; however, that policy has since been reversed by the Trump administration.
Cainkar highlighted another proposal to expand an “expedited removal” policy that would allow the government to deport migrants without a hearing. Project 2025 calls for the federal government to get access to all state and local records to be able to track down migrants and deport them without due process.
“[Previously] that could only happen within a hundred miles of the U.S. border. It has now been extended to the whole United States,” Cainkar said.
Trump recently invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without any form of due process, a policy Cainkar considered especially similar to the one called for in Project 2025.
Dozens of students were in attendance for the presentation. Sam Schahczinski, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said the presentation confirmed research and findings that she had previously gathered.
“Hearing it and having what I knew confirmed by someone who’s an expert in the field was cathartic in a way,” Schahczinski said.
Soup with Substance is a noontime presentation on an issue related to social justice over a simple meal of soup and bread, hosted by Campus Ministry nearly thirty times a year.
This story was written by Sahil Gupta. He can be reached at sahil.gupta@marquette.edu.
