In Its First 100 Days, Trump Administration Has Far Outpaced Predecessors’ Immigration Activity in Number of Actions and Scope

WASHINGTON, DC — The Trump administration has taken 175 immigration-specific executive actions since returning to office in January, according to a Migration Policy Institute (MPI) count, far exceeding the 94 actions seen during the first 100 days of the Biden administration—and a nearly sixfold increase over the fewer than 30 actions during the same period during President Donald Trump’s first term, which at that time had been viewed as highly active in this policy area. And Trump on January 29 signed the first major stand-alone immigration bill to pass Congress in the past 19 years.

From a major focus on deportations to a pause on refugee resettlement, heightened vetting of international students and other lawfully present and prospective visa recipients, and the deployment of vast resources at the U.S.-Mexico border, the breadth and reach of the actions taken to date during Trump’s second term are unmatched in recent U.S. history, write Muzaffar Chishti and Kathleen Bush-Joseph in a new analysis out today in MPI’s online magazine, the Migration Information Source.

During its first nearly 100 days (the milestone is April 30), the administration has made immigration enforcement a whole-of-government enterprise, tapped the military for roles in deportations and border enforcement, reached deep into federal government databases never before accessed for immigration enforcement purposes and conditioned relations with other countries on their immigration cooperation.

While the administration appears unlikely to meet its target of 1 million deportations per year given the current pace of activity, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has roughly doubled the number of daily arrests and potential budget increases from Congress and as-yet untapped authorities could further expand its reach.

As the article explores, the administration has begun to remake immigration in other ways, including:

• Seeking to end “twilight” statuses for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Efforts to end humanitarian parole for more than 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans as well as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghans, Cameroonians, Haitians and Venezuelans would leave many unable to work legally and vulnerable to deportation.
• Effectively barring access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The end of the CBP One app—which the administration has rebranded as a tool to report “self-deportations”—has contributed to record low unauthorized Southwest border arrivals.
• Reducing legal immigration by increasing scrutiny at airports and other processing changes. Officials have increased scrutiny of tourists and others arriving at U.S. airports, leading a number of countries to warn their nationals to take care when traveling to the United States. And the State Department ended waivers previously allowing some visa applicants to avoid an in-person interview.
• Seeking to create a new legal immigration pathway. While the administration is taking actions that likely will result in reduced legal immigration, it has promised to create a “gold card” putting foreign nationals willing to pay $5 million on a path to U.S. citizenship.
• Reduced access to services and benefits. Efforts to prevent unauthorized immigrants from accessing government benefits (which they are mostly barred from anyway) are in part designed to encourage self-deportation. Other proposed cuts impacting services for legally present immigrants appear to be part of the broader slashing of government operations.  

The administration’s actions have not gone uncontested: At least 50 legal challenges have been filed, including on three issues that have already reached the Supreme Court. “In their rulings so far, Supreme Court justices have generally affirmed the executive branch’s authority over immigration matters while underscoring immigrants’ access to due process and judicial review,” the authors write. “But administration officials’ apparent ignoring of judicial orders to halt deportations to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, as well as to return a wrongly deported Salvadoran man, have prompted concerns about a looming constitutional crisis.”

Read the article, “In First 100 Days, Trump 2.0 Has Dramatically Reshaped the U.S. Immigration System, but Is Not Meeting Mass Deportation Aims,” here: www.migrationpolicy.org/article/trump-2-immigration-first-100-days.

The Migration Information Source’s monthly U.S. Policy Beat articles offer statistics and analysis of significant immigration developments in Washington and nationwide. Subscribe for updates here: bit.ly/USPolicySignUp.