-Analysis-
WARSAW — President Donald Trump has promised mass deportations in major U.S. cities, declaring a national emergency at the southern border on his first day in office, and ordering military involvement in transporting migrants in what he promised to be “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
One of his first targets appears to be Chicago, which hosts the largest Polish community in the United States. The city itself, home to multiple ethnic groups, is shaping up to be the first major target of immigration raids — and that means Poles in America, many of whom are big Trump supporters, are now realizing that they too may be impacted.
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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk acknowledged the issue, saying in a statement before a recent cabinet meeting that “After the first announcements on possible mass deportations of illegal immigrants from the United States, I asked the foreign minister to make sure that the U.S.-based consulate facilities and Polish services are prepared for the eventual consequences of the decisions that might concern Poles working and living within the U.S. and having different status and levels of legality.”
Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Henryka Mościcka-Dendys, also responded to the situation, telling broadcasters TOK FM that, according to consular estimates, “up to 30,000” Poles in the United States might be affected by mass deportations. “These are often Poles who moved to the United States in the 1990s and never cleared up their immigration status,” she said.
This has resulted in practical measures being taken by Polish authorities. “We are organizing additional consular shifts, including outside consulate buildings” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on X, asking Poles in the U.S. with expired Polish passports to renew them as soon as possible.
Prime Minister Tusk added that in the case of deportations, Poland will be welcoming its citizens back into the country. “Every Pole will be warmly welcomed back to the country,” he said. “Everybody will find a spot for themselves in their homeland.”
The Polish Diaspora
Like many diasporas in the United States, Polish presence in the country spans several decades and waves of immigration. The most recent wave of immigrants came over in the 1990s, many of them seeking economic opportunities after the fall of communism and the Iron Curtain.
“Unlike those from Mexico, they didn’t cross the border in the desert,” says Dominik Stecula, a political scientist at the University of Ohio. “They had tourist visas to the United States and stayed behind after they expired. Many of them came to the U.S. as children. They weren’t born in the United States, so they have no citizenship, but their parents brought them along many years ago. They had no choice.”
That fear is always there.
Known as “Dreamers,” due to an Obama-era policy, these children were given the ability to apply for employee permits and renewable two-year periods of deferred action from deportation.
As of 2010, there were about 100,000 undocumented Poles in the United States. In Chicago alone, there are 140,000 individuals who were born in Poland, and even more who hold Polish citizenship.
“Poles are not necessarily the target, but they may be among those detained,” says Stecula.
Still, attitudes of fear persist among the diaspora. “They were worried during the first term. That fear is always there,” Stecula says. “Soon, even traveling within the United States will require a biometric version of a driver’s license, known as a Real ID. To get it, you have to prove that you have legal status — even in states where you can get a license without papers. Even flying from point A to point B in the States will become impossible.”
He also underlines that places like Canada, previously seen as more open to immigrants, are also moving to the right on migration policy. Canada too, has a significant Polish diaspora.
“It seems that the next Conservative Prime Minister will be much more negative towards immigrants,” says Stecula.
Built a life
While Trump’s searing rhetoric has largely focused on Latino immigrants, the political scientist adds that many forget the history of immigration to the United States, which is much broader.
“Generally, when many people think of illegal immigrants, they think of people from Latin America who have made it across the border,” Stecula says “Meanwhile, a large percentage of such people are Dreamers, people who stayed on tourist visas and have somehow built a life here. We may not tend to think of them, but they are also affected by Trump’s policies.”
It’s not just about gangs and violence
“It is worth talking about such things,” he adds, “Many representatives of the Polish diaspora have papers, have built a life for themselves and have forgotten a bit about how it was for them at the beginning. When you delve into the subject with them a bit longer and they think about it more, it starts to take on a slightly different color than these anti-migration reflexes.”
Stecula concludes: “illegal immigration in the U.S. is not just about gangs and violence, but also about people who work hard, study, and pay taxes.”
