Trump Administration Action Impacting Immigration
On its first day in office, the Trump administration published a series of executive orders impacting immigration and the federal agencies charged with the administration of immigration benefits and enforcement actions. We expect numerous additional executive orders, proclamations, directives, and policy memos to follow in the coming days and months, further restricting immigration and increasing enforcement activities. We also expect many lawsuits challenging these policies.
Among the executive orders published on Monday, January 20, are the following:
Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States. The order calls for the U.S. armed forces to support the government’s response at the Southern Border.
Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The order revokes Biden administration immigration enforcement priorities and calls for increased enforcement activities by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists other National Security and Public Safety Threats. The order calls for enhanced vetting and screening for foreign nationals traveling to and already present in the United States. The order also mandates a review of visa programs. We expect extensive delays in visa issuance and adjudication of immigration benefits, and curtailment of benefits for some nationalities.
Securing Our Borders. The order provides that the administration intends to (a) build walls and deploy personnel to gain “operational control” of the border, (b) detain individuals apprehended for immigration violations until removal, and (c) promptly remove undocumented individuals and pursue criminal charges against violators. The order terminates programs like CBP One that facilitate the entry of asylum seekers at designated ports of entry on the southern border, and terminates specific parole programs for certain nationalities, including Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan individuals.
Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. The order seeks to limit automatic U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States under certain circumstances. The order claims that individuals born in the U.S. are not U.S. citizens if their mothers were unlawfully present in the U.S. or were in the country temporarily (such as on a tourist, student, or work visa), and the father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of birth. It provides that the U.S. government will not issue citizenship documents to individuals who were born in the U.S. under these circumstances effective 30 days after the issuance of the order, i.e., as of February 19, 2025. Various advocacy organizations have already filed suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the order.
A compilation of the administration’s immigration directives can be found at the Immigration Policy Tracking Project, a project of Professor Lucas Guttentag, who is working with Stanford and Yale law students. The project catalogues Trump administration immigration policies, with key source documents, and will track policies as they are published, and in many instances, challenged in the courts. Please visit the site for a comprehensive compendium of the administration’s actions impacting immigration.
Please also visit our Resources page for additional information and useful links.
We will continue to work with clients to navigate fast changing rules related to travel and entry to the U.S., asylum and humanitarian relief, deportation and removal, and employment authorization. Please contact your Van Der Hout representative for specific legal advice regarding your case.