The reality of Donald Trump's immigration crackdown played out in a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday when a Honduran mother was forced to raise her right hand and swear an oath while breastfeeding her eight-month-old daughter—all while masked FBI agents lurked in the hallways.
The Daily Beast's Michael Daly told how Valeria Lopez, whom the Trump administration brands part of an "invading horde," steadied baby Mia against her breast as she complied with Judge John Siemietkowski's request.
Daly sarcastically called it Trump's vision of America's greatest threat: a nursing mother seeking asylum with her husband Edison and their two well-behaved children, 11-year-old Alan and 7-year-old Iker.
Portraits of a glowering Trump, resembling his 2023 mugshot, watched over proceedings, Daly wrote.
While actual criminals on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list—gang leaders, drug kingpins, terrorists—remain free, agents have been reassigned to help Trump "scoop up 3,000 undocumented immigrants a day," Daly wrote.
Their strategy is to position "snatch teams" of masked agents outside immigration courtrooms, the writer stated. When asylum seekers dutifully appear for hearings, the government dismisses their cases, strips their interim protection, and agents immediately pounce. It's "the equivalent of going fishing in an aquarium," Daly wrote.
At least 18 agents in three groups stalked the courthouse corridors this week, Daly saw. On Tuesday, they handcuffed New York City Comptroller Brad Lander when he demanded to see a judicial warrant. The viral video of that confrontation prompted visits from Governor Kathy Hochul and Congressional Representatives Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler.
Siemietkowski provided a stark contrast to the administration's dehumanization, Daly remarked. Marveling at the Lopez children's behavior, he told them: "I want to know your secret for raising such angels." He gave the boys drawing pads, joking, "Who needs Lion King or Wicked when you can come to Courtroom 16?"
When they showed their artwork, he held the drawings up for all to see, leading applause as he declared them "our own Picassos!" He then warned the family about the agents waiting outside: "You may see somebody you know arrested. You yourself may be arrested."
The Lopez family's next hearing isn't until June 2026—part of a crushing 3.5 million-case national backlog.
As they departed Wednesday, 11-year-old Alan offered his assessment of America: "I love school!" Seven-year-old Iker gave a thumbs-up. Only baby Mia, born on U.S. soil, has guaranteed protection from Trump's deportation machine.
This is Trump's "invasion," Daly concluded — a breastfeeding mother, children making drawings for a kind judge, and a family desperately seeking safety while armed agents hunt them like prey.