Here鈥檚 how Trump has remade US immigration policy in just 1 month
-
Sarah Matusek Staff writer
What a month.
Donald Trump鈥檚 blizzard of immigration policy changes has spanned the borders, the interior, and deportation plans. They鈥檝e largely prioritized security over humanitarian concerns. His government paints unauthorized immigrants as national threats requiring a military response.
This early on, the impact on public safety and the economy remains to be seen. Yet the number of illegal southern border crossings have continued a downward trend. In the interior, fear and confusion in immigrant communities have taken root, keeping adults home from work and children home from school.
Why We Wrote This
President Donald Trump鈥檚 first month featured significant change in U.S. immigration policy. The future of the transformation now rests partly with courts.
Mr. Trump is also broadening the scope of whom he could remove. Beyond talk of targeting 鈥渢he worst鈥� criminals, he鈥檚 stripping legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants previously shielded from deportation. In a national ad campaign, the Department of Homeland Security is unauthorized immigrants to leave 鈥� or, 鈥淲e will find you, and we will deport you,鈥� said Kristi Noem, the department鈥檚 new secretary.
The president has proved that 鈥淭he crisis that we experienced over the past four years was completely unnecessary, that the border is controllable, that our laws are enforceable,鈥� says Ira Mehlman, media director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. 鈥淗e seems to have kept an awful lot of his promises.鈥�
Mr. Trump signed 11 executive actions concerning immigration on his first day. And over his first month, more than 100 immigration policy developments have emerged, reports the .
Those actions and policies carry risk, says Lucas Guttentag, a Stanford law professor and Yale research scholar who created the tracking project. The administration is trying to 鈥渟queeze every last ounce of justice and humanity out of the immigration system,鈥� he says, and doing so 鈥渋n ways that the courts have found and will find violates the law of the Constitution.鈥�
Some orders were quickly implemented. Others may take time. Lawsuits brought by immigrant advocates may also stall plans, such as Mr. Trump鈥檚 attempt to withhold birthright citizenship from children of certain immigrants.
As heads spin from law and policy changes so far, more are expected.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing both immediate changes, but also the laying of the groundwork for future changes,鈥� says Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. She鈥檚 seeing a 鈥渟imilar playbook return,鈥� compared to the first Trump term, but implemented faster.
Here鈥檚 a look at key developments to date.
The border
鈥⒙�National emergency declared at the southern border.聽Claiming the sovereignty of the United States is 鈥渦nder attack鈥� with the entry of criminals and drugs, President Trump this emergency on Day 1. He directed the military to help obtain control of the border and of 鈥渁liens involved in an invasion.鈥�
Mr. Trump took office with the number of Border Patrol encounters 鈥� or stops of those crossing illegally 鈥� lower than when he left in 2021. Illegal entries along the southern border have fallen since hitting a record high in December 2023.
Border Patrol encounters stood around 47,300 for the month of December. With the U.S. suspending entry, they plummeted in January to 29,100. That is the lowest since May 2020.
Immigrant advocates have the government over access to asylum, which U.S. says immigrants may seek even if they entered illegally.
鈥⒙�Migrant appointments at ports of entry ended.聽The government stopped the use of an app called CBP One for migrants seeking lawful entry into the U.S. To deter illegal crossings, the Biden administration had encouraged migrants to set up initial appointments at official ports of entry through the app, after which they could be let in and apply for asylum.
Republicans had decried the app鈥檚 use as a backdoor for otherwise unauthorized immigrants. Since 2023, over 900,000 people had been let in through the process, CBS News .
The interior
鈥� Limits to citizenship blocked by courts.聽The has long been interpreted to guarantee U.S. citizenship to virtually all children born here, regardless of their immigration status. Mr. Trump signed an on Day 1 seeking to bar birthright citizenship for children of unauthorized immigrants and those here temporarily. Four courts have so far blocked the order; two of those decisions. If a case challenging the executive order reaches the Supreme Court, it will have the final say.
鈥�聽Laken Riley Act signed into law.聽Signed by the president Jan. 29, the law mandates the federal detention of unauthorized immigrants charged with theft and violent crimes in the U.S. The act鈥檚 namesake was a Georgia nursing student who was by a Venezuelan man who authorities say had entered illegally and was cited for theft by shoplifting.
鈥� Temporary protections for immigrants revoked.聽The Trump administration has targeted immigrants who are here without permission. Now, it鈥檚 expanding that group by ending temporary deportation relief for others.
That revocation includes ending for many Venezuelans, now set to expire in April. The government says extending their temporary stay in the U.S. is 鈥渃ontrary to the national interest.鈥� He also moved to terminate a separate program, based on a permission to enter called parole, that let in over half a million immigrants. Both temporary statuses have, based on humanitarian grounds, allowed immigrants to live and work in the U.S.
鈥� Refugees barred.聽Refugees, who are fleeing identity-based persecution, are vetted and approved for protection in the U.S. before they arrive. Now Mr. Trump has refugee resettlement indefinitely. (During his first term, he downsized the program, which the Biden White House then rebuilt.)
鈥淪anctuary鈥� jurisdictions targeted
There鈥檚 no single definition for 鈥渟anctuary鈥� cities and states. But the term often implies that officials provide limited cooperation with the federal government on immigration enforcement.
The Department of Justice has it will cut off funding to such cities and states, and has sued Illinois and Chicago over what it calls unconstitutional interference with federal powers. Another lawsuit against New York takes aim at a state law that allows unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver鈥檚 licenses while limiting federal immigration agencies鈥� access to driver information.
Immigration enforcement publicized
The government has publicized recent operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in cities like New York, Chicago, and Denver.
ICE is pursuing arrests of unauthorized immigrants in partnership with other federal agencies. Still, 鈥渂order czar鈥� Tom Homan has blamed media leaks for hampering plans. ICE initially published daily arrests, but stopped earlier this month.
The White House last week that ICE arrested 11,000 鈥渃riminals鈥� in an 18-day period. According to a recent , around 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. as of mid-2023.
Against the targeted-criminal narrative, the number of immigrants detained by ICE without criminal histories has been rising since inauguration, researcher Austin Kocher.
Religious groups and Denver Public Schools, meanwhile, have sued to block ICE enforcement in and around sensitive locations such as churches and schools, which is no longer discouraged by the government. Proponents of the agency say that arrests at such locations are rare, and rather the ability to pursue arrests near such sites makes operations more efficient.
Deportations
鈥� Promised deportation campaign begins.聽Monthly data on deportations under the Trump administration is not yet available. Yet the government has paved the way for more fast-track deportations. A creation of the Clinton administration, 鈥渆xpedited removal鈥� takes away immigrants鈥� access to an immigration judge.
鈥� Military involved in deportation flights and detention.聽Beyond National Guard units stationed at the southern border, the military has also been tapped for deportation flights. Those have included military planes to , , and , a country now accepting migrants from places where the U.S. can鈥檛 easily send deportees. (Venezuela is also accepting its deported citizens back, with its own planes.)
Naval Station Guant谩namo Bay is being used for migrant detention, which the White House says could hold up to 30,000 such beds. Through photos, the government has publicized the faces of immigrants sent to the detention site, claiming that many are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which officials have linked to violent crimes across the U.S.
Family members of those sent to 鈥淕itmo,鈥� however, have refuted alleged Tren de Aragua ties, 聽The Washington Post. It鈥檚 unclear how ICE is determining such gang membership, though the agency has said indicators include tattoos. Immigrant advocates have sued the Trump administration over detainees鈥� lack of access to counsel.
