Asia

How Trump’s immigration crackdown is putting pressure on Indonesians in the US

US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has struck fear into undocumented Indonesians living there, prompting some to seek asylum despite slim chances of success.  

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Denny Armandhanu

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JAKARTA: When their tourist visas expired in August 2024, Balinese couple Ida Bagus Bimantara and Wulan Widyastini turned to asylum, believing it was their only realistic way to stay in the United States. 

They had arrived in the US a day after their wedding in December 2023, hoping to build a new life and pursue the American dream.

But months after they filed their asylum claim, Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. 

His sweeping immigration crackdown launched since has upended life for the couple – and millions of other undocumented immigrants across the US – replacing hope with uncertainty.

Even though they were finally called for their asylum interview in January this year, the approval has not yet been made, leaving them in limbo, though they know they are luckier than others. According to the couple, some Indonesians have waited as long as five years without being called for an interview.

“Those without legal status who haven’t applied for asylum are extremely cautious. They’re afraid of being arrested by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement),” Ida Bagus told CNA.

According to US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) figures released in May, more than 3 million undocumented immigrants – referring to those residing there without legal authorisation – have been deported since Trump returned to office, with the number continuing to climb.

Although Indonesians make up a relatively small immigrant community compared with those from Latin American countries, immigration lawyers and community leaders said they have not been spared from the tougher enforcement.

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ICE’s last nationality breakdown, released in 2024, showed 4,276 Indonesians were subject to final orders of removal – court orders requiring them to leave the US – the third-highest number among Southeast Asian nationalities after Vietnam (8,675) and Laos (4,850).

“Indonesians may not be targeted the way Latino communities are, but the fear is still there, especially because of how aggressively ICE carries out its operations,” said Shinta Penyami Storm, founder of Gapura Philadelphia, a cultural and advocacy group for the Indonesian diaspora in the city.

For many immigrants, including Indonesians, asylum has increasingly become a last resort for staying in the US, say immigration lawyers, adding that many of the claims are weak and have little chance of succeeding.

CAUTION AMID TOUGHER ENFORCEMENT

Under Trump’s administration, ICE has been given broader enforcement powers. Officers, often wearing body armour and carrying firearms, can now conduct raids almost anywhere, including workplaces and places of worship.

Indah Nurita Sari, a member of the Indonesian diaspora in Philadelphia who has lived in the US for 25 years as a permanent resident, said the tougher enforcement has made many Indonesians more cautious.

“I know one Indonesian who was arrested by ICE and later released. But now he has to wear an electronic ankle monitor and report regularly,” said Indah, a writer and founder of Indonesian-language community media outlet Indonesian Lantern in the US. 

Some Indonesians said many compatriots now rarely leave home without proof of their legal status.

“When you’re out, you’re advised to carry proof of your immigration status, such as a Green Card or a document showing you’re legally seeking asylum or other protection,” said Ida Ayu Sabrina, an Indonesian Green Card holder who has lived in Los Angeles, California, for the past 10 years.

Husin Siregar, another member of the Indonesian diaspora in California, said he also worries about running into ICE officers despite holding a Green Card.

“That’s why I leave home wearing my nurse’s uniform and hospital ID badge,” said Husin, 56, who has lived in the US since 1986.

Having arrived in the US a year before power shifted from Joe Biden to Donald Trump, Ida Bagus soon noticed a dramatic change for undocumented immigrants like himself.

“People without legal documents are extremely cautious. They’re afraid they’ll take a wrong turn and run into an ICE raid,” he said.

The crackdown has extended beyond undocumented immigrants. Green Card holders can also face detention or deportation if they are convicted of certain crimes or found to have supported designated groups.

“I know several Indonesians who had lived here for decades but were eventually arrested and deported,” Husin said.

Shamsi Ali, 58, a prominent Indonesian community leader who has held legal status in the US since 1997, said the fear of being detained or deported has taken a psychological toll on many.

“Many of them have lived and worked here for years,” said Shamsi, who now serves as imam and director of the Jamaica Muslim Center in New York City.

Those detained by ICE are typically held while their cases are reviewed before being deported or released. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington said ICE does not notify it when Indonesians are detained or face deportation, making it harder to provide consular assistance.

The embassy said ICE only contacts Indonesian officials when it requires supporting documents for specific cases, while many Indonesians dealing with ICE also choose not to report their situation.

ICE provides only aggregate figures, the embassy said. Between January 2025 and Jun 3, 2026, 230 Indonesians had dealings with the agency, including cases that were still pending and those that ended in deportation.

“As of Jun 3, 2026, 38 Indonesian nationals remained in ICE custody, most of them in Philadelphia and San Antonio,” the embassy said in a statement to CNA.

The number of Indonesians living in the US remains unclear. The Indonesian embassy estimates there are about 53,700 Indonesian nationals, while aggregate data from Indonesia’s 2024 general election put the figure at around 117,000.

The embassy attributed the gap to many Indonesians choosing not to register, fearing their personal information could be shared with ICE.

“Some Indonesians mistakenly believe that registering with the embassy could affect their immigration status or that their information would be passed on to US authorities,” the embassy said.

Harun Calehr, an immigration lawyer at Calehr Law Firm in Houston, Texas,said ICE’s tougher approach reflects a shift in how the Trump administration views undocumented immigrants, who are now increasingly described as “immigration fugitives” rather than “illegal immigrants”.

Under the previous administration, Harun said immigration enforcement was more restrained because states and local authorities – particularly in sanctuary cities such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco – could limit cooperation with ICE by withholding certain information.

“There was much greater discretion under the Biden administration. Enforcement was more humane … if someone had only committed a civil immigration violation, rather than a criminal offence, authorities generally didn’t look for ways to escalate the case,” Harun told CNA.

“Now there’s only one objective: Deport as many people as possible, bring as many cases as possible, and drive up the numbers.”

TARGET OF 1 MILLION DEPORTATIONS A YEAR

The Trump administration is aiming to deport 1 million immigrants a year, according to a Washington Post report citing White House officials.

The previous record was held by Barack Obama, who deported more than 400,000 people a year on average, earning him the nickname “Deporter in Chief”. Over two terms, Obama deported 5.3 million undocumented immigrants.

Immigration lawyer Harun Calehr said the Trump administration has also tightened legal immigration pathways, including by slowing and raising the cost of naturalisation for Green Card holders.

According to immigrant advocacy group National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), the naturalisation rejection rate rose to 10.5 per cent under Trump, up from 8.9 per cent during the Biden administration.

Harun said the tougher environment has pushed many undocumented immigrants to leave on their own. Of the 3 million people deported since Trump returned to office, 2.2 million opted for self-deportation.

Under the programme, they received a ticket home and a cash payment of US$2,600. More than 100,000 people had signed up for the programme by January.

“It’s impossible to deport 4 million people in a single four-year term. One way to achieve the numbers is to make people anxious and fearful until they decide to leave on their own,” Harun said.

Immigration was a cornerstone of Trump’s 2024 campaign under the banner of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA). He repeatedly portrayed undocumented immigrants, particularly those from Latin America, as murderers, drug traffickers and terrorists.

That rhetoric turned immigrants into convenient scapegoats for America’s economic woes and proved politically effective, said Suzie Sudarman, a US expert at the University of Indonesia.

“Racial politics resonates with voters. Immigrants end up becoming the target of unfounded accusations, such as claims that they’re draining taxpayer-funded public services like hospitals and schools,” she said.

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ASYLUM AS A LAST RESORT

As anxiety spread across immigrant communities, many began seeking legal advice or exploring ways to remain in the US.

“This isn’t unique to Indonesians. We’ve seen a surge in people from almost every immigrant community seeking legal advice because of policy changes, tougher immigration enforcement and uncertainty over where the government is heading,” said Lia Sundah Suntoso, an immigration lawyer at Philadelphia-based Suntoso Law.

Harun said he has been forced to turn away immigration cases because he can no longer keep up with demand.

“I used to handle maybe 10 to 15 deportation cases a year. Now I’m getting five to 10 calls a week. I’ve had to turn people away because I’m simply overwhelmed,” Harun said.

For those without a US sponsor – such as a spouse or an adult child who is a US citizen – asylum may be their only remaining legal option, Harun said.

While waiting for an asylum decision, applicants can apply for work authorisation. Once approved, they can obtain a social security number and work legally in the US.

As of April 2026, 2,322,467 asylum cases were pending before US immigration courts, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which tracks US immigration data.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) told CNA it does not publish a breakdown of asylum applicants by nationality.

Citing Congressional Research Service (CRS) data, Lia said 95 per cent of asylum applications handled by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) in the fiscal year 2025 were defensive asylum claims, with the remainder filed through the affirmative asylum process.

“Defensive asylum is filed in immigration court as a defence against removal or deportation,” Lia said. By contrast, affirmative asylum is filed before a person enters removal proceedings.

The odds of success for Indonesian asylum seekers remain slim. Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS) data showed that just 20 Indonesians were granted affirmative asylum and another 110 received defensive asylum in 2023, out of a total of 54,350 asylum grants that year.

Shinta said many Indonesians turned to asylum in the early months of Trump’s second term out of panic over the immigration crackdown, creating an opportunity for brokers to charge well above the official filing fee.

“Some Indonesians have taken advantage of the situation by acting as asylum brokers. They charge between US$1,000 and US$3,000, even though the official asylum filing fee is only about US$100,” Shinta said.

Ida Bagus said he was also approached by fellow Indonesians offering to arrange his asylum application for a hefty fee.

“I was offered that service, but we turned it down. They wanted as much as US$8,000. That’s outrageous for an agent’s fee alone – it’s about the same as hiring an immigration attorney here,” he said.

Another Indonesian asylum seeker in the US, Mawar – not her real name – said she sought protection over an incident linked to her previous job at a travel agency, but declined to provide further details.

“I decided to apply for asylum in 2024,” said Mawar, 38, who previously lived in Jakarta and now works at a warehouse in Pennsylvania.

Harun, however, said many asylum claims by Indonesians fall short of the legal standard because they are based on personal disputes or discrimination, rather than state persecution or persecution carried out with the state’s acquiescence.

“Many asylum claims are weak if they’re based solely on personal discrimination. There has to be evidence that the government discriminated against a minority group, not simply hostility between individuals,” Harun said.

Harun said present-day Indonesia bears little resemblance to 1998, when the Asian financial crisis and political turmoil that culminated in the fall of longtime president Suharto drove many Indonesians to seek refuge overseas.

“After the 1998 riots, many Chinese Indonesians sought asylum in the US. Some were accepted, many were rejected,” said Shamsi Ali, who had already been living in the US before the May 1998 riots.

Shinta agreed that many of today’s asylum claims are exaggerated.

“If the claim is based on being LGBT, it may be understandable because Indonesia does not provide specific legal protections for that community. But claims based on persecution, riots or violence – from what I’ve seen – are often fabricated,” she said.

“These applicants come from places that are perfectly safe. They’ve never experienced any of those things.”

Akbar Kurnia Putra, an international law expert at the University of Jambi, said false asylum claims could lead to immediate deportation, adding that economic hardship alone is not grounds for asylum.

“People who move to another country solely in search of a better life or better job opportunities – economic migrants – do not qualify for refugee status or asylum,” he said.

EMBASSY STOPS ISSUING PASSPORTS TO ASYLUM SEEKERS

While respecting Indonesians’ right to seek asylum in the US, the Indonesian Embassy in Washington stopped issuing passports and temporary travel documents (SPLP) to asylum seekers in September 2025.

Instead, asylum seekers are expected to use a Refugee Travel Document issued by US authorities. The embassy said continuing to use an Indonesian passport – or returning to Indonesia – could undermine an applicant’s asylum claim because it suggests they still rely on protection from the country they say they fear.

“In principle, using travel documents issued by the country from which asylum is sought, or returning to that country, is one of the factors US authorities consider when assessing the credibility of an asylum claim,” the embassy told CNA.

Akbar told CNA that Indonesians who apply for asylum remain Indonesian citizens unless they renounce their citizenship or enter the service of another state.

Still, he said the policy was aimed at protecting the integrity of Indonesia’s travel documents, as asylum seekers are generally expected to fear returning to their home country.

“Even under UNHCR refugee status determination procedures, holding a valid passport can indicate that someone still has access to protection from their home country, which may affect the assessment of their asylum claim,” Akbar said.

“It can significantly undermine the claim and even backfire.”

WHEN THE AMERICAN DREAM IS ON THE LINE

According to Pew Research Center data published in May 2025, Indonesians make up just 1 per cent of the Asian diaspora in the United States, ranking 16th among Asian communities. As of 2023, about 74 per cent were immigrants, while the rest were US-born descendants.

Their relatively small numbers mean Indonesians have remained largely “invisible”, with limited political and economic influence, said Amorisa Wiratri, a demographer and researcher at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

“The Indonesian diaspora does not have the same economic, political or social influence as the Indian and Chinese communities in the US, especially when it comes to shaping public policy,” Amorisa told CNA.

For comparison, Pew data showed the Chinese diaspora numbered 5.5 million people, accounting for about 22 per cent of the Asian population in the US, while the Indian diaspora totalled 5.2 million, or about 21 per cent.

Despite its relatively small size, Amorisa said the Indonesian diaspora has built close-knit communities across the US, held together by regular gatherings, religious study groups and other social activities.

Over time, she said, that has reshaped what “home” means. For many, it is no longer defined solely by where they were born or raised.

“Many have come to see home as a place where they feel accepted, comfortable, free to express themselves, and part of a community that helps them grow. I believe most Indonesians in the US have found those things here,” she said.

That sense of belonging is also what makes Trump’s immigration crackdown so unsettling. Beyond giving up better-paying jobs, returning home would mean starting over, while children born in the US would have to adapt to a new environment.

“Culturally, I also sense many fear returning home because there’s this perception that Indonesians living overseas are always successful, wealthy and better off than those back home,” she said.

For its part, the Indonesian Embassy in Washington urged Indonesians planning to work in the US to first understand the country’s immigration system and apply for the appropriate visa.

“Many Indonesians enter on tourist visas and then work, even though those visas do not permit employment. Any violation is the traveller’s own responsibility,” the embassy said.

For Mawar, however, leaving the US is not an option. Despite lacking legal status, she has chosen to stay, believing everyone has the right to seek a better life wherever they choose.

“God created this world to be explored. As human beings, we should be free to move and earn a living wherever we choose,” she said.

Ida Bagus feels much the same. Despite living under the constant threat of deportation, he and his wife have chosen to stay in pursuit of the American dream.

However, if his asylum claim is ultimately rejected, Ida Bagus said he is prepared to return to Indonesia.

“We respect the rules here. If our application is rejected for a clear reason, we’ll go home. But if the grounds aren’t clear, we’ll appeal.”

Source: CNA/da(ao)

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