Think Immigration: Fear Instead of Solutions - Day One Recap

In his first evening of his second term, President Trump signed a flurry of executive orders with wide-ranging implications for immigration policy. Changes to our immigration system to protect our country with integrity should ensure a fair, orderly, and efficient immigration process. The chaos and uncertainty in the wake of Monday night’s executive orders do not bring us closer to a safer or more prosperous United States.

What these executive orders will do is manifold. First, they’ll strain our current immigration system with bureaucratic inefficiency. Executive Order Securing our Borders ends the CBP One app, terminates the humanitarian parole programs created under the Biden administration for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV), and ends the practice of releasing people apprehended at the border into the U.S. pending court hearings (so-called “catch-and-release”). Eliminating legal pathways, such as CHNV and the CBP One app, goes against the mission of public safety and national security. By ending CHNV and the CBP One app, more migrants will feel forced to enter without inspection, and the lack of available legal alternatives will likely result in an increase in gang activity in border communities. By ending discretion for who is detained, the administration may require detention for anyone apprehended, including families. Without discretion, detention facilities will reach maximum capacity at great expense and strain on government resources. This approach also prioritizes recent arrivals instead of focusing on people who may actually be dangers to public safety. Similar executive policies under the Trump administration’s first term ultimately led to the release of “nearly 58,184 noncitizens with criminal records, including 8,620 violent criminals and 306 murderers,” according to data obtained by the CATO Institute. That’s not what anyone wants.

Second, these new policies will also significantly impact legal immigration, which in turn will make it more difficult for businesses to hire employees. The enhanced vetting described in a new executive order provides even stricter scrutiny for newer applicants and those who have been in nonimmigrant status for years, and will ultimately result in greater delays. The America First Trade Policy will have considerable impacts on nonimmigrant visas. Reviewing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) before the 2026 renewal could result in policy shifts affecting the eligibility criteria for TN visas. Those applying for TN visas could face additional requirements which would slow down their processing. Other treaty-based nonimmigrant visa categories, such as E-1, E-2, and H-1B1 may also be at risk with this directive.

What else? Well, the Trump administration also threw in some policies that have been proven to be harmful and ineffective. The administration now requires undocumented individuals to register their presence. A similar program, the post-9/11 National Security Entry Exit Registration System also required registration of certain people present in the U.S. Under the guise of national security, the program conducted racial, ethnic, and religious profiling of those from Muslim and Arab-majority countries, and was found to be ineffective for national security. The same EO reestablishes the VOICE Office and Addressing Victims of Crimes Committed by Removable Aliens but under the first Trump administration, VOICE promoted harmful stereotypes by creating a false narrative of undocumented immigrants as likely criminals, despite having lower crime rates than native-born citizens.

The Trump administration is also re-enacting policies that were detrimental to economic growth and prosperity under his prior term. One executive order could potentially bring back the Buy American, Hire American (BAHA) Executive Order 13788. BAHA policies of Trump I resulted in increased scrutiny of employment-based visas, barriers for U.S. businesses to hire foreign workers, and a focus on increased wage requirements which hurt small businesses, non-profits, and foreign graduates of U.S. institutions.

The legality of many of these executive orders remains in question. One glaring example is the administration’s attempt to strip fundamental rights provided by the 14th Amendment by ending birthright citizenship through administrative action. In another order, the administration appears to violate the constitution by commandeering state and local resources. Elsewhere, orders conflict with statute - such as the INA’s guarantee of access to asylum - by suspending all border entries, including asylum seekers.

Finally, some changes made Monday night may not at their surface be about immigration, but will nevertheless reverberate throughout the immigration system. For example, the new executive order on gender stigmatizes migrants who do not conform to strict male/female categories. Changes will be required on immigration forms and government-issued identity documents which may not reflect the identities of many individuals and will create unnecessary paperwork requirements. Since detention centers will only separate detainees by male or female, people identifying as transgender or nonbinary will be vulnerable to mistreatment, violence and abuse because of their identity.

The justifications given by the administration for these actions refer to concerns over public safety, national security, and the national interest. Yet, what we have seen so far does nothing to alleviate such concerns, only exacerbate them. Effective immigration reform does not rely on fear and disruption to our businesses and communities, but rather common-sense solutions that create an orderly and efficient system that serves the nation, recognizes the indispensable economic benefits of migration, reinforces the rule of law, and maintains due process and fairness.