Brockway Speaks With Agence France Presse About Trump’s Hard-Line Rhetoric Against Immigrants

December 18, 2025

Agence France Presse

Mark Brockway

Political Science Department

Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict & Collaboration

Federal

U.S. Immigration

United States

Agence France Presse

Mark Brockway

President Donald Trump openly reused a derogatory phrase at a Pennsylvania rally, saying he questioned why the U.S. takes people from places like Somalia instead of Norway or Sweden, and calling some countries "filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime."

Experts note that while anti-immigrant rhetoric has long existed on the far-right, it now comes directly from the White House, with Trump's administration launching sweeping deportations, suspending immigration applications from 19 poor countries, and calling for “reverse migration” following an attack by an Afghan national.

For Trump, it doesn't matter whether an immigrant obeys the law, or owns a business, or has been here for decades, says Mark Brockway, assistant teaching professor of political science. “They are caught in the middle of Trump's fight against an invented evil enemy,” Brockway says.

Read more in the Agence France Presse article, “Trump ramps up hard-line rhetoric against immigrants from 'sh*thole' countries.”