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President Donald Trump promised a radical reset on immigration, and he didn’t waste any time getting started. Just hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20, he was seated in the Oval Office with a black permanent marker and a stack of leather-bound executive orders. By the end of Day 1, he’d revived many of the same programs and policies he’d previously carried out over four years during his first administration.
There were 10 orders related to immigration in all. And within them lay dozens of policy changes that, if implemented, would upend the immigration system and the lives of millions.
The blitz of executive order signing has continued, so fast and sweeping that it’s been hard to keep up, much less gauge its potential future impact. Trump has paused the resettlement of tens of thousands of refugees who’d already been vetted and approved to relocate to the United States, including as many as 15,000 Afghans. He ended humanitarian parole for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua leaving more than 500,000 already living here in legal limbo. He launched his promised effort to round up and remove millions of unauthorized immigrants starting with those accused of violent crimes, though less than half of the approximately 8,200 people arrested from Jan. 20 through Feb. 2 so far have criminal convictions, according to government data obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
Taken individually, many of the measures could be considered controversial, said Andrew Selee, president of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, but by the time experts get their mind around one new initiative, they learn there’s been another. “It’s really hard for outside organizations, politicians or the public in general to focus on any one of them,” he said.
In the meantime, some pushback has begun. Two federal judges swiftly blocked an order seeking to end birthright citizenship, calling it unconstitutional, while about a dozen other lawsuits have been filed by civil rights groups, religious organizations and states. Advocates sued this week to reverse an order that declared migrants were invading the country and that authorized the president to use extraordinary powers to stop them. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
In order to provide a glimpse of the enormity of the changes that are underway, ProPublica and the Tribune identified nearly three dozen of the most impactful policy changes set in motion by the orders signed on the first day. Most were pulled from the playbook of Trump’s previous presidency. Others are unprecedented.
Trump Tried It Before
Some of the measures in the executive orders revived policies from Trump’s first administration, including
several blocked in court or rescinded following national outcry. Others are expansions of practices that
have been carried out by various administrations, both Republican and Democratic.
Invokes special presidential powers that allow Trump, among other things,
to circumvent Congress to unlock federal funding to build additional border
barriers, as well as the deployment of the military as needed.
Temporarily suspends refugee admissions into the United States.
Seeks to end the practice of releasing some immigrants from detention while they await
immigration court proceedings.
Orders most non-Mexican immigrants and asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases go
through the U.S. immigration court system.
Allows the U.S. government to reach agreements with other governments to send back
immigrants to places other than their home countries where they can seek asylum.
Requires the DNA testing of some unauthorized immigrants and asylum seekers, in particular
families.
Expands the focus of arrests of immigrants beyond those who pose a security threat to
include anyone who is in the country illegally.
Calls for the “primary mission” of the investigative arm of the Homeland Security Department
to be enforcing laws related to illegal immigration, rather than its broad mandate to tackle
human trafficking, drug smuggling, child sexual abuse and a host of other complex crimes.
Expands fast-track deportation proceedings for people who cannot prove they have been in the
country for more than two years.
Pushes foreign governments to accept the deportation of their own nationals.
Establishes a hotline for people to inform the government about immigrants involved in
crimes.
Says that the legal status that temporarily protects some immigrants from deportation should
be “limited in scope.”
Says the administration will ensure employment authorization is provided in a manner
consistent with immigration law. Does not provide many specifics.
Bars so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement
from accessing federal funds and instructs the attorney general to take civil or criminal
action against them.
Ensures more information is shared with the Department of Homeland Security for law
enforcement or immigration status verification and anti-human trafficking efforts.
Revokes the eligibility for public benefits of immigrants living in the country illegally.
Seeks to identify countries considered to have “vetting and screening information” that is
“deficient” in order to determine whether it is fully or partially suspending entry of those
nations’ citizens to the U.S.
Puts resources toward revoking U.S. citizenship for certain offenses.
Suspends or restricts entry of immigrants who pose a public health risk.
Tasks the secretary of defense with deploying troops to help secure the southern border.
Orders the secretaries of defense and homeland security to build additional border barriers
and to coordinate with state governors willing to assist.
Allows the attorney general to seize land adjacent or near the border to build barriers or
for other uses.
Directs U.S. agencies to prioritize the prosecution of entering and reentering the country
illegally, which under U.S. law is a crime.
Calls for the Homeland Security Department to “take all appropriate action” to expand
facilities to detain immigrants.
Authorizes state and local law enforcement officials to perform the functions of immigration
officers under the supervision of the Department of Homeland Security and through so-called
287(g) cooperation agreements.
Increases the number of ICE and border agents.
Pledges to ensure that all migrants seeking entry into the United States “are vetted and
screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Policies He Hasn’t Tried Before
Some of Trump’s measures have never been tried before, like his bid to end birthright citizenship. Others,
if implemented, would push the powers of the presidency much further. Orders that declare an invasion of
migrants on the border or designate drug cartels and certain transnational gangs as terrorists could have
wide-reaching implications that are not yet completely clear.
Suspends the entry of immigrants across the southern border until Trump determines the
“invasion” has concluded. Cites a lack of capacity to properly screen people’s criminal
history and a public health risk at the border due to the large number of border
apprehensions in recent years.
States that it is the mission of the U.S. Armed Forces to seal the borders and maintain the
“sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States.” Until now,
immigration has not been part of the military’s core mission.
Attempts to end birthright citizenship of children born to parents either illegally in the
United States or under a temporary legal status, something Trump had only said he wanted to
do in his first term.
Ends programs that had allowed some immigrants and asylum-seekers to legally enter and work
in the United States temporarily.
Invokes a law that requires all noncitizens to register and present their fingerprints to
the U.S. government or be subject to criminal penalties.
Seeks to stop or limit money to nongovernmental organizations that provide shelter and
services to migrants released at the border, as well as legal orientation programs for
people in immigration proceedings.
Starts a process to designate drug cartels, the Central American gang MS-13 and the
Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations. Also threatens to
invoke
the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which experts said would have the effect of allowing
people
suspected of being members of those organizations to be deported even if they had legal
status in the U.S.
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