Trump's New Immigration Policies Already Affecting Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Humanitarian migrants are among those first hit by the Trump administration's new immigration policies.
After the detailed hour-by-hour account of Day One of the Trump administration I gave yesterday, I woke up today eager to dive into the substance of the barrage of executive orders that Trump issued yesterday.
Among my first tasks was to create more readable versions of Trump’s EOs, which I made public on Google Drive here. A simple gesture, sure, but one of my priorities is to enable more people to learn about immigration policy for themselves, and that means helping people find and interpret source documents. I have a lot of colleagues who teach on the topic of immigration and I wanted them to have resources they could distribute if needed.
I was also responding in real time to a steady flow of new immigration lawsuits (the attempt to end birthright citizenship has already amassed three major lawsuits), policy announcements from the Department of Homeland Security (mostly rescinding Biden’s more protective, humanitarian orders), and the churn of expert analysis of Trump’s policies on Zoom calls and in working documents.
My hat is off to the many organizations, professors, and analysts who have issued statements, provided open-source policy analysis, and helped fill in the background on Trump’s executive orders, which are, let me be honest, a total mess.
In the midst of all this, I also fielded a dozen or so calls from reporters who were seeking context and commentary for these new immigration policies. As easy as it is to criticize the media, I have found that immigration reporters generally try to do their due diligence and get a full understanding of laws and policies before hitting the publish button.
In a nutshell, today was spent managing the flurry of activity while finding quiet time to really sit and read the executive orders, do background research, and collect a rapidly-growing archive of resources.
Let’s talk about what matters most today: humanitarian migrants already affected by Trump’s policies.
This newsletter is only possible because of the generous support of paid subscribers. If you believe in this work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. You can read more about the mission and focus of this newsletter and learn why, after three years and over 200 posts, I finally decided to offer a paid option.
Refugee Resettlement on Indefinite Pause
One of the first and most visible acts of President Trump’s administration in 2017 was to restrict the lawful entry of noncitizens from several Muslim-majority countries. This policy caused immediate chaos at airports along the eastern seaboard.
Yesterday, Trump issued a new executive order titled “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program.” While not as far-reaching as the 2017 travel ban, this order similarly halts refugee resettlement for an indefinite period. The suspension appears aimed at creating new barriers to limit the number of refugees admitted, tightening vetting procedures, and controlling where refugees are allowed to live.
It’s important to recognize that refugee resettlement in the United States is largely managed by faith-based organizations. A suspension like this doesn’t just impact refugees—it jeopardizes hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in these organizations across the country.
The effects have been swift. Reports are already surfacing of Afghan refugees—many of whom are military family members—having their flights canceled. Refugees from other countries are also facing similar disruptions, as attorneys and advocates are beginning to report.
We know from Trump’s first administration that policies like these have long-term consequences on the capacity of the refugee system to recover, even after normal policies are reinstated. For example, fewer refugees were resettled during the first half of the Biden administration because the government and its partner organizations were still struggling to rebuild capacity after Trump-era restrictions.
Asylum-Seekers Turned Away at US-Mexico Border, CBP One Appointments Cancelled
Migrants waiting at the US Mexico border for their appointment at ports of entry, according to the policies of the United States, found out yesterday that all appointments have been canceled, and no future scheduling will take place through the CBP one app.
CBP One was officially mentioned in Trump's executive order titled “Securing Our Borders”, but the apps capabilities and previously scheduled appointments were already shut down before this executive order was even signed. A notice was added to CBP's website less than an hour, I believe, after Trump was sworn in.
Before the sun set on Trump’s first day in office, videos, already surfaced online showing migrants expressing confusion, disappointment, and even fear over the loss of an orderly pathway to request asylum.
In response to the termination of the app, the ACLU quickly filed a motion within mere hours calling for a status meeting in their ongoing lawsuit over CBP one. The lawsuit originally alleged that the government was acting illegally by restricting asylum in ways that contradicted the law. Now the ACLU is in a somewhat ironic position of criticizing the termination of the smart phone app that it had sued over in the first place.
Taken together, these two immigration policy changes have already impacted refugees and asylum seekers, which is why I wanted to highlight them here.
Even More Immigration Policies Announced Today
We have more controversial executive orders to get to as well as important actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice today, including (1) the reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols; (2) the termination of previous guidance that discouraged ICE from engaging in immigration enforcement on the grounds of churches, schools, and hospitals; and (3) creating a new office in the DOJ to target so-called sanctuary cities. Stay tuned!
Support public scholarship
Thank you for reading. If you’d like to support public scholarship and receive this newsletter directly in your inbox, please subscribe. If you find this information useful, consider sharing it online or with friends and colleagues, and supporting it through a paid subscription. Learn more about the mission and the person behind this newsletter.
Thanks for the update. It's sort of like going backward in time, isn't it? Sigh!
Thank you for unpacking all this, Austin!