BRUSSELS: Nearly 70 groups hit out on Monday at EU reforms to migration currently under consideration by the European Parliament, comparing them to US policy under President Donald Trump and calling on officials to abandon the text.

“This threat is real and immediate,” the wide array of associations, including European and national rights groups, said in a letter expressing concern over police raids of public and private spaces, and racial profiling.

“They want to oblige member states to ‘detect’ undocumented people — turning everyday spaces, public services, and community interactions into tools of ICE-style immigration enforcement,” they warned.

The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to deport millions of undocumented migrants from the United States. But raids by heavily armed, masked officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies have sparked protests in Democratic-run cities, followed by violent crackdowns, including two cases where American citizens were shot dead.

“We cannot be outraged by ICE in the United States while also supporting these practices in Europe,” said Michele LeVoy of PICUM, an organisation which protects undocumented migrants.

The migration reform pushed by the European Commission allows the creation of centres outside the EU’s borders for rejected asylum seekers, so-called “return hubs”. Under the reform, there would be harsher sanctions on those who refuse to leave European territory, including longer periods of detention and the confiscation of identity documents.

The measures have already been approved by most EU states, but are condemned by the left in the European Parliament and migrant protection groups. The EU executive regularly rejects rights groups’ criticism, insisting its measures respect migrants’ fundamental human rights.

Brussels also says such actions are supported by a majority of citizens in Europe, where the political centre of gravity has shifted to the right.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2026