By James Tabafunda
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Federal immigration enforcement actions have reached historic highs, sparking an immediate response among affected Asian American communities. Many Chinese, Indian, Korean, and Southeast Asian immigrants now carry government-issued identification, hoping to protect themselves from being wrongfully targeted in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
President Trump has pledged to deport what he has called “the worst of the worst.” But according to the most recent federal records published in July 2025, around 71% of detainees have no criminal convictions. This number is drawn from ICE’s own data and points out the disconnect between official rhetoric and the reality faced by detainees—many of whom are U.S. citizens or lawful residents.
Analysis from the Associated Press and the Deportation Data Project confirms this number, showing how government priorities have shifted toward broader sweeps that include Asian American communities and other minorities.
In a widely reported case, Lewelyn Dixon, a 64-year-old Filipino national and longtime U.S. green card holder, was detained by ICE at Sea-Tac Airport after returning from a visit to the Philippines. Dixon, a University of Washington lab technician who has lived legally in the U.S. for more than five decades, was held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma for three months. Her detention arose from a 2001 embezzlement conviction, attorneys said.
Following a court hearing, Judge Tammy Fitting—an immigration judge at the Tacoma Immigration Court—ordered Dixon’s release, ruling she should not be deported.
To protect their privacy, the following interview subjects’ real identities will remain anonymous.
Andrea, a Chinese Malaysian immigrant and now U.S. citizen living in western Washington, says the decision to carry her U.S. passport every day is based on a long-term personal habit—a practice that, in recent years, has become a protective shield against the rising anxieties surrounding establishing her citizenship status.
“When I first came here under a marriage visa, before I got my driver’s license, I was told to have a picture ID with me all the time,” she recalls. At the time, her Malaysian passport was her proof of identity and her fallback.
“Somehow I felt comfortable at that time. Having my passport in case anything happened, I could just go to the airport and fly away,” she said.
Andrea’s sense of caution has never faded, even after she became a naturalized citizen and exchanged her Malaysian passport for an American one in 2015. She travels regularly between the U.S. and Malaysia, but the passport has come to mean more than representing transit, it became protection.
“With this new administration, I still have my passport with me. For me, maybe it’s a bit weird, but I’ve always felt like the safest place to keep something is with myself,” she said.
For Andrea, the fear of being detained by mistake is real.
“It does not really feel safe. I don’t trust the ICE agents, and I don’t trust the police due to the news that I see so much. It’s a hit and miss. If you’re lucky, you meet someone with morals, but they will do what they want anyway.” She said she experiences anxiety and panic attacks simply thinking about the possibility of being stopped. She has stopped attending public events and limits her outings to places she knows well and feels safe.
“I stay home more,” Andrea said. “I choose not to go out.”
She advises her family and friends to carry their passports, telling them it is an act of self-defense in uncertain times. “Before, if you don’t carry it, it’s fine, but not right now. It’s a crazy time. You better bring it,” she said.
Andrea holds on to her passport not only as proof of identity, but as protection—a precaution in a moment of time when safety and belonging in America feel increasingly out of reach.
Phoebe, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from India, used to leave her passport card, never imagining she’d need to provide proof of her citizenship during everyday activities.
That changed this year, as news reports described a sharp rise in immigration enforcement operations.
“Just hearing about incidents happening to immigrants all over the country, especially in Washington where some have been approached by the agency ICE,” she said. “From what I’ve heard, people are just taken and then deported. A lot of people have shared that you need to be able to prove your citizenship on the spot if you don’t want to go through that traumatic event.”
Phoebe’s two adult daughters, both U.S. citizens, advised her to carry her passport card, but she initially shrugged the warning off, believing their family was not at risk.
“I was like, no, no, no, no, it doesn’t happen like that. It doesn’t happen. Sure, it’s happening, but not around us,” she recalls.
But when her husband—a white, native-born American who works in law enforcement—urged her and their daughters to carry their passport cards, she reconsidered her beliefs.
“The minute he said that, I thought ‘Wow, now this is serious,’” Phoebe, a King County resident, said. “I don’t know why I was in denial, but when he asked me to do that, that really made me very cautious because he does not say such things lightly.”
These days, she keeps her passport card within easy reach.
“I was taking something from my wallet and, oh my gosh, that just brought back that anxiety,” she said. “I also feel rage, why? That’s not okay. I’m a citizen, but I need to prove it now. That’s where we’re at. There’s a little bit of fear. What if they don’t consider this?”
Phoebe doesn’t avoid public spaces, but anxiety affects her plans to visit family in India.
“I’ve reconsidered it many times in the last couple of weeks. Is it a good time? Will there be any trouble getting back into the country?” she said. “I don’t know how it’s going to impact my trip. Will I go or not? But as of now, I do have that in the back of my head.”
As for her hopes for the U.S. government regarding immigration enforcement, Phoebe said, “I want peace. Of course, I don’t want any illegal criminals to be in this country. I’m a citizen. I want those illegal criminals to be sent back to their countries. At the same time, I want that fear and the rage to go away from the minds of citizens, naturalized citizens like me who’ve been here for so long,” she said. “We haven’t done anything wrong and we’ve been paying our taxes, obeying the law. All of my friends or people that I don’t even know, they are law abiding citizens. They shouldn’t have to live in fear or anger or anything like that.”
Phoebe hopes for change, but is not sure how it will happen. “All people should be united and stand together,” she said.
John, a U.S. citizen of Chinese descent who grew up in Malaysia and a Seattle resident, now carries his U.S. passport card everywhere. After emigrating to America as a young adult 15 years ago, John never felt “American.”
His decision to carry his passport card came about from perceiving risk from the Trump administration and seeing “people who are permanent residents and even some citizens who are mistakenly detained.”
“This situation hasn’t made me feel like I belong less, but it does make me feel that the government can flip flop so easily,” he said.
While John believes carrying his passport card offers some protection, he is not completely convinced it guarantees safety in the current climate of increased racial profiling and aggressive immigration enforcement. He knows that being in the “the wrong place at the wrong time” plays a role.
“At least I have it on me. I can show it to somebody, but I’m not sure it’ll help at the point of them going crazy and wanting to round up anyone,” he said.
As for the near-term future, congressional action has intensified. On July 16, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., introduced the Stop ICE from Kidnapping U.S. Citizens Act—legislation that would prohibit ICE from detaining or deporting U.S. citizens during civil immigration enforcement. The bill aims to eliminate any uncertainty by blocking federal funding for such operations and establishing accountability measures for agents who break the law.
“Carrying my passport card feels necessary,” John said, echoing Andrea’s and Phoebe’s current thoughts on the current climate. By asserting their legal rights through visible identification, these U.S. citizens stand firm in their expectation of fair treatment and basic civil rights granted them under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, regardless of their ancestry.
Know your rights if you encounter ICE. For details, go to https://immigrantjustice.org/for-immigrants/know-your-rights/ice-encounter/.