Collection of Analysis Related to Trump Immigration Actions

In one place, all MPI resources on the first and second Trump terms

Immigration has been central to the policy agenda for President Donald Trump in his first and second terms.

This section features MPI research, data resources, and commentary that offer context to policy changes proposed and achieved during the Trump terms, as well as the populations they affect. These cover a wide range of areas ranging from asylum to deportation policy, refugee resettlement, and changes to legal immigration and admissions policies.

President Donald Trump signs a bill in the Oval Office

The Trump Administration

Our insights and data on policy changes during the two Trump terms.

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SECOND TERM

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Overarching Policy Changes

ARTICLE: Though Rare, Birth Tourism to the United States Sparks Outsized Concern

COMMENTARY: Trump Restrictions on Legal Immigration Could Sharply Reduce U.S. Population Growth

ARTICLE: The Trump Administration’s Immigration Policies Encounter Resistance in the Courts

ARTICLE: Unleashing Power in New Ways: Immigration in the First Year of Trump 2.0

COMMENTARY: Trump Administration Actions Jeopardize Decades of Progress in Adult Education and Immigrant Integration

COMMENTARY: Trump Administration Public-Charge Rule Would Amplify Harms to Immigrant Families

COMMENTARY: Repealing Birthright Citizenship Would Significantly Increase the Size of the U.S. Unauthorized Population

ARTICLE: In First 100 Days, Trump 2.0 Has Dramatically Reshaped the U.S. Immigration System, but Is Not Meeting Mass Deportation Aims

COMMENTARY: Shifting Priorities: How the Official English Executive Order Could Affect Language Access Efforts

ARTICLE: Tapping Ancient Wartime and Security Laws, Trump Administration Dramatically Expands Immigration Powers

COMMENTARY: Amid Tariff Threats, Migration Management Is Key to the Evolving Trump-Sheinbaum Relationship
(Para leer este foco analítico en español, haga clic aquí)

ARTICLE: With “Shock and Awe,” the Second Trump Term Opens with a Bid to Strongly Reshape Immigration

ARTICLE: Despite Sharply Different Immigration Rhetoric, Democrats and Republicans Now Have a Similar Approach to the Border

Asylum Policy & Border Enforcement

COMMENTARY: A New Era of Immigration Enforcement Unfolds in the U.S. Interior and at the Border under Trump 2.0

COMMENTARY: Can Near-Historic Low Migrant Encounter Levels at the U.S.-Mexico Border Be Sustained?

Deportations and Interior Enforcement

ARTICLE:  In Its Second Term, Trump Administration Quietly Expands Family Separation

COMMENTARY: U.S. Third-Country Deportation Agreements Are More About Fear than Numbers

ARTICLE: Escalation of ICE Operations Emboldens State and Local Lawmakers to Constrain Its Operations

ARTICLE: Employment Verification: The Next Front for U.S. Immigration Enforcement?

ARTICLE: U.S. Immigrant Detention Grows to Record Heights under Trump Administration

ARTICLE: Trump Administration’s Expansion of Fast-Track Deportation Powers Is Transforming Immigration Enforcement

ARTICLE: Beyond ICE: State and Local Authorities Become Central to Trump Administration Deportations Strategy

COMMENTARY: The Health Costs to Children of Stepped-Up U.S. Immigration Enforcement

ARTICLE: Can the Trump Administration’s “Self-Deportation” Campaign Succeed?

ARTICLE: Seeking to Ramp Up Deportations, the Trump Administration Quietly Expands a Vast Web of Data

COMMENTARY: Schools and Immigrant Students Navigate an Era of Rising Immigration Enforcement

ARTICLE: Trump Administration Bends U.S. Government in Extraordinary Ways towards Aim of Mass Deportations

FIRST TERM

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Overarching Policy Changes

REPORT: Four Years of Profound Change: Immigration Policy during the Trump Presidency

REPORT: Obscure but Powerful: Shaping U.S. Immigration Policy through Attorney General Referral and Review

ARTICLE: The U.S. Presidential Campaign Cements Political Parties’ Deepening Schism on Immigration

ARTICLE: Impending USCIS Furloughs Will Contribute to a Historic Drop in U.S. Immigration Levels

COMMENTARY: Millions of U.S. Citizens Could Be Excluded under Trump Plan to Remove Unauthorized Immigrants from Census Data

COMMENTARY: USCIS Budget Implosion Owes to Far More than the Pandemic

REPORT: Immigration and U.S. National Security: The State of Play Since 9/11

ARTICLE: Crisis in the Courts: Is the Backlogged U.S. Immigration Court System at Its Breaking Point?

REPORT: Eight Key U.S. Immigration Policy Issues: State of Play and Unanswered Questions

ARTICLE: Despite Flurry of Actions, Trump Administration Faces Constraints in Achieving Its Immigration Agenda

ARTICLE: Executive Power Showdown: Congress and White House Quarrel over Immigration Spending

ARTICLE: Sessions: The Trump Administration’s Once-Indispensable Man on Immigration

ARTICLE: Census Citizenship Question Triggers Legal and Political Fallout

COMMENTARY: The Trump Immigration Plan: A Lopsided Proposal

REPORT: Trump's First Year on Immigration Policy: Rhetoric vs. Reality

REPORT: In the Age of Trump: Populist Backlash and Progressive Resistance Create Divergent State Immigrant Integration Contexts

ARTICLE: Tens of Thousands in United States Face Uncertain Future, as Temporary Protected Status Deadlines Loom

Refugees & Nationals from Banned Countries

COMMENTARY: As the United States Resettles Fewer Refugees, Some Countries and Religions Face Bigger Hits than Others

ARTICLE: The Travel Ban at Two: Rocky Implementation Settles into Deeper Impacts

ARTICLE: In Upholding Travel Ban, Supreme Court Endorses Presidential Authority While Leaving Door Open for Future Challenges

COMMENTARY: The U.S. Falls Behind as Others Take on New Leadership Amid Record Humanitarian Pressures

POLICY BRIEF: Revised Trump Executive Order and Guidance on Refugee Resettlement and Travel Ban

COMMENTARY: The Revised Trump Travel Ban: Who Might Be Affected from the Six Targeted Countries?

ARTICLE: Judge's Pause of Trump Travel Ban Takes Page from Republican Challenge to Obama Executive Action on DACA

POLICY BRIEF: Trump Executive Order on Refugees and Travel Ban: A Brief Review

COMMENTARY: The Refugee Resettlement Program Is an Unsuitable Target

Asylum Policy & Border Enforcement

REPORT: Building a New Regional Migration System: Redefining U.S. Cooperation with Mexico and Central America
(Para leer este reporte en español, haga clic aquí).

POLICY BRIEF: Rethinking the U.S.-Mexico Border Immigration Enforcement System: A Policy Road Map

ARTICLE: Interlocking Set of Trump Administration Policies at the U.S.-Mexico Border Bars Virtually All from Asylum

ARTICLE: Supreme Court Asylum Ruling Latest Sign Judiciary Is Not the Brake on the Trump Administration that Immigration-Rights Activists Sought

REPORT: From Control to Crisis: Changing Trends and Policies Reshaping U.S.-Mexico Border Enforcement

COMMENTARY: Strategic Solutions for the United States and Mexico to Manage the Migration Crisis
(Para leer este foco analítico en español, haga clic aquí).

COMMENTARY: International Experience Suggests Safe Third-Country Agreement Would Not Solve the U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis

COMMENTARY: Policy Solutions to Address Crisis at Border Exist, But Require Will and Staying Power to Execute

ARTICLE: Remain in Mexico Plan Echoes Earlier U.S. Policy to Deter Haitian Migration

ARTICLE: Trump Administration’s Unprecedented Actions on Asylum at the Southern Border Hit Legal Roadblock

COMMENTARY: Asylum Reform, Not Troops, Is the Solution to Current Border Reality

ARTICLE: Trump Administration’s New Indefinite Family Detention Policy: Deterrence Not Guaranteed

REPORT: The U.S. Asylum System in Crisis: Charting a Way Forward

COMMENTARY: Far from a Retreat, the Trump Administration’s Border Policies Advance its Enforcement Aims

ARTICLE: Family Separation and “Zero-Tolerance” Policies Rolled Out to Stem Unwanted Migrants, But May Face Challenges

ARTICLE: National Guard Heads to Southern Border Amid Differing Reality from Earlier Deployments

POLICY BRIEF: Trump Executive Order and DHS Implementation Memo on Border Enforcement: A Brief Review

ARTICLE: Borders and Walls: Do Barriers Deter Unauthorized Migration?

Deportations & Interior Enforcement

ARTICLE: Comparing the Biden and Trump Deportation Records

ARTICLE: Trump's Promise of Millions of Deportations Is Yet to Be Fulfilled

REPORT: Immigration Enforcement and the Mental Health of Latino High School Students

COMMENTARY: As the Trump Administration Seeks to Remove Families, Due-Process Questions over Rocket Dockets Abound

REPORT: Revving Up the Deportation Machinery: Enforcement under Trump and the Pushback

ARTICLE: Trump Administration Ratchets up Pressure on “Sanctuary” Jurisdictions

ARTICLE: Shifting Gears, Trump Administration Launches High-Profile Worksite Enforcement Operations

ARTICLE: The Trump Administration at Six Months: A Sea Change in Immigration Enforcement

ARTICLE: Despite Little Action Yet by Trump Administration on Sanctuary Cities, States and Localities Rush to Respond to Rhetoric

ARTICLE: Muscular Public Relations Strategy to Paint Immigrants and Immigration as Negatives Embedded Deep Within Trump Executive Orders

POLICY BRIEF: Trump Executive Order and DHS Guidance on Interior Enforcement: A Brief Review

ARTICLE: The Obama Record on Deportations: Deporter in Chief or Not?

Restrictions on Legal Immigration

COMMENTARY: Anticipated “Chilling Effects” of the Public-Charge Rule Are Real: Census Data Reflect Steep Decline in Benefits Use by Immigrant Families

ARTICLE: The “Trump Effect” on Legal Immigration Levels: More Perception than Reality?

COMMENTARY: Broad and Blunt, the Trump Administration’s H-1B Changes Miss the Opportunity for Real Reform

REPORT: A Rockier Road to U.S. Citizenship? Findings of a Survey on Changing Naturalization Procedures

ARTICLE: The U.S. Stands Alone in Explicitly Basing Coronavirus-Linked Immigration Restrictions on Economic Grounds

ARTICLE: Crisis within a Crisis: Immigration in the United States in a Time of COVID-19

COMMENTARY: The Public-Charge Rule: Broad Impacts, But Few Will Be Denied Green Cards Based on Actual Benefits Use

COMMENTARY: Health Insurance Test for Green-Card Applicants Could Sharply Cut Future U.S. Legal Immigration

COMMENTARY: Millions Will Feel Chilling Effects of U.S. Public-Charge Rule That Is Also Likely to Reshape Legal Immigration

ARTICLE: “Merit-Based” Immigration: Trump Proposal Would Dramatically Revamp Immigrant Selection Criteria, But with Modest Effects on Numbers

POLICY BRIEF: Gauging the Impact of DHS’ Proposed Public-Charge Rule on U.S. Immigration

ARTICLE: Even as Congress Remains on Sidelines, the Trump Administration Slows Legal Immigration

COMMENTARY: A Path to Citizenship for 1.8 Million DREAMERs? Despite Talk, No Proposal Would Do So

COMMENTARY: Legalization for DREAMers: A Realistic Appraisal of Potential Chain Migration

COMMENTARY: The RAISE Act: Dramatic Change to Family Immigration, Less So for the Employment-Based System

COMMENTARY: Leaked Draft of Possible Trump Executive Order on Public Benefits Would Spell Chilling Effects for Legal Immigrants

Our U.S. Policy Experts

Julia Gelatt

Associate Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program