INDIANAPOLIS — President-elect Donald Trump just named his former Immigration and Customs Director as "border czar" for his next term.
Tom Homan will head up border security and potentially implement the hardline immigration pledges Trump made during the campaign.
So what is the potential policy impact here in Indiana?
13News talked with local immigration advocates who say a lot of people they serve are now in fear.
Ahead of a second Trump presidency, Indiana immigration advocates say they are bracing for what's to come.
"It's a moment of uncertainty for all of us," said Maria Yuquilima, communications manager for the Immigrant Welcome Center in Indianapolis.
"A lot of anxiety," added Cole Varga, CEO of Exodus Refugee Immigration in Indianapolis. "It's for the people we serve. They have anxiety because they're worried and rightfully so worried that their family members won't be coming."
"It's a very scary time," Yuquilima said. "But it doesn't change the work that we're doing or the passion that we're doing it with."
The president-elect made a broad crackdown on immigration a pillar of his campaign, promising the largest mass deportation in U.S. history.
What that could actually look like and how it would be implemented remains to be seen.
"The issue will be how cost-effective is it to deport the number of people that they're thinking about deporting," said Vanessa Cruz Nicols, assistant professor of political science at Indiana University. "I think that you're going to see a lot of communities really feeling as though they're living in the shadows again."
Indy's Immigrant Welcome Center and Exodus Refugee Immigration both help not only migrants and people seeking citizenship, but also those seeking asylum, people with protected status and refugees who've fled violence, war or persecution to find safety in the U.S.
They've helped more than 7,000 people just last year in central Indiana.
Advocates worry how they'll be affected by future policies.
"How many fewer refugees will be allowed in? The State Department and the president actually get to decide how many refugees are invited in, and that number dropped 86% during the first Trump presidency," Varga said. "So to put that in perspective, in the past fiscal year, the U.S, welcomed just over 100,000 refugees. So if we see that drop again, only 14,000 refugees would be allowed in. And that's at a time when there are 43 million refugees globally, so we need to be doing more for those folks and not less."
It's why advocates say they are taking action before Inauguration Day.
"How many refugees can we help alongside the Biden administration in this very short window?" Varga asked.
Plus, they're boosting legal teams to advise those they serve.
"They will be able to help with asylum claims, with getting green cards, with getting citizenship," Varga said.
"Having that list of resources and a game plan if anything were to happen," Yuquilima added, "either how to prepare or to know their rights because they do have rights — undocumented immigrants to even those with legal status."
Advocates say they also hope any new immigration policies don't demonize all people seeking opportunity in the U.S.
"I'm not sure that the incoming administration has a firm grasp on all the different types of immigration," Varga said. "These people are not our enemy. These are our friends and neighbors that we are missing out on if we turn them away."