Kristen Ziccarelli is a Senior Policy Analyst, specializing in Homeland Security, Immigration & Western Hemisphere at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI).
What is AFPI?
At the end of the first Trump administration, in 2021, a few top leaders of the ‘America First’ movement—Brooke Rollins, Larry Kudlow, and Linda McMahon (all of them with government experience and former advisors to President Trump)—gathered and formed AFPI, a think tank to defend the movement’s principles. For the past four years, AFPI has pushed ‘America First’ by holding events and campaigns across the country, and advocating for every item on the ‘America First’ agenda: secure borders, a strong economy, energy independence, Christian values, etc. These are ideas that are shared by the majority of Americans and are the complete opposite of what the Biden administration did for four years. AFPI is a nonpartisan think tank, existing to promote the policies of the ‘America First’ agenda (we do not speak for the Trump Administration).
Many Europeans are aware that the West is threatened: by the woke policies implemented by their governments, by war, mass immigration, etc. Is the average American aware of this threat?
I believe the average American is to some extent aware of this threat, although they are very clear that they do not want extremist policies such as gender ideology or the anti-Americanism that has been promoted until recently by our government. For that reason, Trump’s first measures were aimed at ending that madness. The average American wants his government to protect him, defend his borders and preserve Western values.
And with respect to international policy, does looking inward imply an isolationist policy?
No, the ‘America First’ agenda does not mean America alone. The reality is that when President Trump pushes some countries to invest more in defense, what he wants is for those countries to be able to defend themselves and not have to rely exclusively on the United States; the whole West has to be able to defend itself, it’s a logical thing to do. The Trump Administration is focused on having a strong West and is aware of the threat posed by China, Russia, and Iran, but the truth is that the United States has serious problems to solve, which have been dragging on for decades, and we cannot allow them to continue.
Your work at AFPI is related to immigration.
Yes, since 2022. The Biden administration overturned everything Trump did to secure the border and provoked an unprecedented immigration crisis that had terrible consequences in U.S. communities, with an increase in crime and also in costs to deal with the crisis. The massive influx of illegal aliens was a determining factor in the vote in the last election, because most Americans want to protect the border and not see fellow Americans become victims of crimes committed by criminal illegal aliens.
Another consequence of Biden’s open borders policy was the fentanyl crisis, although many did not understand it at first, because with the open border also came a lot of drugs smuggled by the Mexican cartels. Fentanyl, whose precursors originate in China, was one of those drugs, and its effects have been devastating.
In some cities, we have seen images of fentanyl addicts wandering around like zombies. Are we facing a plague like crack in the eighties?
This has happened not only in large cities, but also in small communities and has been taking its toll on the younger population in schools. Fentanyl is much more potent than other drugs, something that most of its users are unaware of, and therefore the possibility of overdose is much greater. In fact, fentanyl became the leading cause of death in Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. However, the Biden administration did not take action and the drugs continued to flow freely across the border.
So this crisis is a consequence of the open borders policy?
One hundred percent.
The United States has always been a country of immigrants. How does the new Trump administration approach the integration of legal immigrants?
During the first Trump administration, the number of naturalized legal immigrants was very high, so the narrative that the president is against legal immigration is completely false. In fact, illegal immigration is a serious detriment to legal immigrants who come to the United States and who have legitimate asylum claims or are seeking a legal pathway. The president has always been very clear that a pillar of the America First ideology is to be in favor of those who want to come and become productive members of our society and who respect our culture and values. What cannot be allowed is the arrival of people without any vetting or consideration of national security.
Countries such as Nicaragua or Venezuela, or the drug cartels in Mexico, are playing a role in illegal immigration to the United States. What is being done in this regard?
The Trump administration is fully committed to combatting the drug cartels and illegal immigration from any country. In January 2023, President Biden announced a program to unlawfully parole in immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela, accepting 30,000 immigrants a month. But this program, like others implemented by his administration, did not include proper vetting protocols to ensure bad actors were not entering American communities. At the Southern border, illegal immigrants were detained and subsequently released into our country, which in practice meant there was no border. The Trump administration has ended this ‘catch and release’ policy, also put in practice by Obama, and other illegal programs, and has increased pressure on criminal groups, allowing greater ability to act against them.
The recent protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies are very reminiscent of what happened with Black Lives Matter. Who is behind these violent protests?
I cannot say definitively who is behind these protests, but yes, they are very reminiscent of the riots created by Black Lives Matter, creating chaos and attacking law enforcement. The president has already made it very clear that he will not tolerate such violence and has acted accordingly. And, on the other hand, we have the attitude of the Mexican government, which encourages the protests and does not behave as an ally, neither in this matter nor in the fight against the narcos.
Speaking of allies, do you think the Trump administration’s tariff policy may cause problems with its traditional allies?
I think Trump is taking the world by storm with his tariff policy because he has broken with what the establishment has done for decades. Above all, I believe he wants to restore fairness to the United States and its economic interests and prioritize security. Tariffs are a strategic tool, based on ‘America First’ principles to increase our competitiveness, strengthen our sovereignty and defend the American working middle class. In the short term, this has led to some conflict, but Trump wants what is best for America and to bring countries to the table to negotiate an agreement that, in the long term, is satisfactory and beneficial to all. At the end of the day, that is what citizens want from their leaders: to defend their interests and their country.
