THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: IMMIGRATION, RACISM, AND COVID-19

Two of the most important issues defining the Trump Administration were the President's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Administration's dealing with immigration issues. These have been regarded, in the popular press and in the scholarly literature, as unrelated. But there is a key common feature in the Trump Administration's response: racism and xenophobia has shaped both the handling of the public health crisis and immigration issues. Understanding the underlying basis for the Trump Administration's reaction to both issues helps to clarify the fallacies, indeed the tragedies in its actions, and the legal errors that have been made.