Trump Is Doing All The Wrong Things On Immigration
Editors Note: Jeffrey Miron is director of economic studies at the Cato Institute and the director of graduate and undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, where Laura Nicolae is a student and research assistant. The opinions expressed in this commentary are their own view more opinion at CNN.
Since his presidential campaign began, President Trump promised to decrease illegal immigration. In recent months, his administration has pushed for additional border wall funding, expanded our military presence at the border, and threatened to increase deportations unless congressional Democrats agree to strengthen federal asylum laws.
Despite these efforts, illegal immigration has recently increased. One reason is that Trumps measures do not reduce the incentives for people to migrate illegally. To shrink illegal immigration, the US needs policies that lower these incentives, especially if these make sense independently of immigration.
What Is The Biden Administrations Approach
Biden campaigned on overturning almost all of Trumps immigration policies. In its first few months, his administration took dozens of actions, but his efforts collided with a dramatic rise in migration to the southern U.S. border.
Bidens steps to undo Trump-era policies have included reducing immigration enforcement inside the United States, ending the travel bans, lifting the suspension of green card processing, and halting construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. His administration has also expanded TPS protections, canceled safe third country agreements, and raised the refugee cap for fiscal year 2022 to 125,000 after initially maintaining the limit imposed under Trump. It has additionally launched efforts to accelerate the reunification of migrant families, including by reinstating the Central American Minors program, which reunites children in the Northern Triangle with their parents in the United States.
During the 2022 Summit of the Americas, twenty-three heads of state from Western Hemisphere countries agreed to a migration pact that aims to increase aid to refugee populations, improve border management, and better coordinate emergency responses. Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also proposed a joint infrastructure plan aimed at securing the southern U.S. border, emphasizing an expansion of temporary work visas and increasing investment in border surveillance.
What Is The Impact Of Trumps Immigration Order
On April 20, President Donald Trump tweeted that he would suspend all immigration into the United States in order to protect American jobs during the COVID-19 crisis two days later, the administration issued a proclamation pausing the granting of green cards to manybut not allwould-be immigrants for 60 days. We asked Cristina Rodríguez of Yale Law School, whose research interests include immigration law and policy, to explain the consequences of the order.
New U.S. citizens at a ceremony in Salt Lake City in April 2019. Photo: George Frey/Getty Images.
- Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law, Yale Law School
What does President Trumps immigration order mean in practical terms?
The order is unprecedented in its reach. The president has invoked a statutory authority that has been in the Code since 1952 and that numerous presidents have relied on since Ronald Reagan issued the first proclamation of its kind. Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the president to suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens if he determines their entry would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. This power is breathtakingon its face it appears to allow the president to swallow altogether the intricate admissions criteria that Congress has enacted.
What is the relationship between immigration and the COVID-19 pandemic?
What would the impact of this order be on life and commerce in the United States?
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Dismantling Daca & Terminating Tps: A Moral And Economic Disaster That Hurts All Americans
More than one million immigrants living, working, and contributing to our communities are legally protected from deportation by Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals . President Trumps continued attempts to deport these members of our families and communities has been one of the defining tenets of his anti-immigrant agenda. By every measure, DACA and TPS have both been a tremendous success, helping to strengthen our communities and grow our economy, but Trump has repeatedly sought to undermine these programs through unilateral executive action. He has also wielded the threat of family separation as leverage to enact dramatic cuts to our legal immigration system, including effectively ending asylum.
The Presidents efforts have been overwhelmingly rejected by the American people, who have been galvanized by the bravery of DACA recipients and TPS holders who have courageously shared their stories. Multiple federal courts including the Supreme Court have repeatedly blocked the Trump Administrations attempts to terminate these programs. These efforts have come at a significant political cost including losing his party control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 election. These same actions continue to threaten his re-election chances this year.
The Trump Administrations Actions Targeting Dreamers and TPS Holders
The Human Impact of Ending DACA and TPS
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Targeting Immigrants: A Losing Political Strategy
Supreme Court Permits Administration To Enforce Safe Third Country Rule
On September 11, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court handed a major win to the Trump administration by temporarily permitting the nationwide enforcement of the safe third country asylum rule that has spent the previous two months bouncing around the lower courts. The rule, which was fast-tracked by the administration in July, would deem migrants ineligible for asylum if they failed to make their request in a designated safe third country which they had passed through on their way to the United States.
The rule was first blocked by U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California who issued a nationwide injunction immediately after it took effect. However, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed the California-based judges injunction to states within the circuit, permitting the rule to remain in place in Texas and New Mexico while being blocked in California and Arizona.
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Investors Will Seek Investment Opportunities Elsewhere
Jobs are not all that will go to other countries as a result of these expansive visa bans. Foreign investment is tightly linked to immigration even ancestral links from immigration a century ago continue to drive foreign investment today. Innovation is also tightly linked to immigration. Immigrants patent at double the native rate, increase firm patenting, and enhance the innovativeness of native scientists by introducing new and complementary knowledge and ideas. History provides a clear example of what happens to American innovation when immigration flows are restricted immigration quotas in the 1920s caused a significant decline in American innovationat least in part because Americans were actually less innovative without immigrants around. Furthermore, Israeli science benefited when at least some scientists moved there instead. Halting immigration will not only reduce innovation and investment in the U.S., but will likely send that innovation and investment to countries that welcome foreign talent with open arms.
President Trumps order to block hundreds of thousands of immigrants from working in the U.S. will not improve unemployment for American citizens. It will not aid economic recovery. Instead, it will send jobs, innovation, and investmentand hence economic growthto those countries who are not so shortsighted as to ban the very people who are instrumental in ensuring Americas future economic prosperity.
Trumps Signs Coronavirus Relief Package Excluding Illegal Aliens
On March 27, the President signed a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus and relief package, which includes relief payments to all individuals with Social Security Numbers meeting income requirements. Those with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers , including illegal aliens, will not receive coronavirus relief checks.
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President Deploys 5200 Troops To The Us
Towards the very end of October, President Trump deployed 5,200 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in an attempt to secure it and contain the migrant crisis. The move was necessary because the growing tide of caravans and illegal border crossers are close to overwhelming the system while Congress has failed to fund President Trumps border wall.
Protecting American Workers Halting Foreign Guest Worker Admissions
On June 22, to address record-high levels of COVID-19-related unemployment, President Trump issued a proclamation temporarily suspending the entry of foreign guestworkers into the United States for the remainder of 2020. The executive action affects the H-1B program, and several other nonimmigrant guestworker programs, including those H-2Bs not critical to the food-supply chain, certain H-4s, as well as L and certain J visas. The proclamation could potentially open up 525,000 positions, according to the White House.
FAIR president Dan Stein described the proclamation as welcome news for the tens of millions of Americans who have lost jobs as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Among the recently unemployed are workers of all skill levels who are ready, willing, and able to fill jobs as our economy recovers.
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Graham Says He Will Introduce Legislation To End Birthright Citizenship
Sen. Lindsey Graham said that he supported Trumps proposal to end birthright citizenship and would introduce legislation to end it. Graham wrote in a series of tweets,
| Finally, a president willing to take on this absurd policy of birthright citizenship. Ive always supported comprehensive immigration reform and at the same time the elimination of birthright citizenship. The United States is one of two developed countries in the world who grant citizenship based on location of birth. This policy is a magnet for illegal immigration, out of the mainstream of the developed world, and needs to come to an end. In addition, I plan to introduce legislation along the same lines as the proposed executive order from President @realDonaldTrump. I will be introducing legislation to deal with the issue of birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants — in a prospective manner — as I have always contended it has become a magnet for illegal immigration in modern times. |
President Trumps Executive Orders On Immigration And Refugees
President Trump signed three executive orders the week of January 23 which offend the dignity and threaten the rights of immigrants and refugees both in the United States and globally. On January 25 at the Department of Homeland Security , Trump signed executive orders on border security and interior enforcement. On January 27, he signed an executive order at the Pentagon on refugees and visa holders from designated nations.
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Trump Leaves Mark On Immigration Policy Some Of It Lasting
WASHINGTON When President Donald Trump was running for reelection, foreign-born U.S. residents were rushing to get their American citizenship before it might be too late.
I didnt know what would happen if Trump got a second term, said Victoria Abramowska, who became a citizen in Maine this fall, after all the crazy things he did already.
Her fears werent unfounded. The Trump administration was more hostile to immigration and immigrants than any administration in decades, making it harder for people to visit, live or work in the United States and seeking to reduce the number illegally entering the country.
Many of the administrations immigration actions can be quickly undone by Joe Biden when he becomes president on Jan. 20. Yet Trumps legacy on immigration wont be easily erased.
People were denied the opportunity to apply for asylum and returned to dangerous conditions at home. Children were traumatized by being separated from their families. Trumps signature border wall went up in environmentally sensitive areas.
It may take longer to deal with the less tangible fallout.
Justice Department Imposes Quotas On Immigration Judges
The Department of Justice introduced production quotas for immigration judges to reduce the enormous immigration court backlog. Immigration courts handle the civil cases of illegal aliens seeking to stay in the United States. With a backlog approaching 700,000 cases, the delayed system allows people who should be swiftly deported to stay in the country for years waiting for a court date. In many cases, illegal aliens dont even bother to show up in court, electing to disappear into the country to live and work in the shadows.
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Travel Ban Expanded To Six More Countries
On January 31, the Trump administration announced an expansion of the travel ban after a year-long review by the Department of Homeland Security that evaluated the safety performance and protocols of approximately 200 countries. The six additional countries are: Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Sudan. For a few of the countries Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Nigeria the restrictions are only applicable to immigrant visas. For Sudan and Tanzania, the restrictions are being placed on diversity visas, which are awarded through a lottery program that grants visas to prospective immigrants randomly each year.
Title 42 Set To End As Some Texas Officials Warn Of Deepening Border Crisis
They are playing dangerously with the machinery of the Trump administration. That policy was functionally an elimination of access to asylum at the southern border for most asylum-seekers, said Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Chen said opening up new legal pathways will likely not make up for the numbers of asylum-seekers who will be denied entry. I cannot imagine what they could do legally with their existing authority that would substantially ensure access to humanitarian protection and relief, he said.
Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the Trump administration over the previous transit ban, said they would do so again if the Biden administration tries a similar policy.
We successfully sued over the transit ban under the Trump administration and will immediately sue if the Biden administration renews the ban. A transit ban is illegal regardless of which administration employs it, said Lee Gelernt, the ACLU attorney who argued the successful appeal again the Trump transit ban.
A Biden administration official who has argued against the plan told NBC News the White House should be securing money to deal with the large displacement of migrants across the Western Hemisphere rather than simply blocking them from crossing into the U.S.
This is not a surge its a new reality, the official said.
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Justice Department Touts New Immigration Judges Quicker Hiring
The Justice Department hailed progress in reducing long-standing delays in hiring more immigration judges. In early August, 23 new judges were invested by the departments Executive Office for Immigration Review , the largest class since at least 2010, the department announced. That represents a cut in average hiring time by more than 50 percent, which the department said was the result of Attorney General Jeff Sessions effort at streamlining hiring under deadlines announced last year.
What Are Other Pending And Proposed Changes To The Immigration System
Categorically ending asylum: The administration continues to propose multiple rules and policy changes that seek to shrink the scope of the asylum system including limiting eligibility criteria, eroding due process pathways, and creating administrative and financial obstacles when applying for asylum. Lear more about the specific proposed changes to the asylum system.
Attacking DACA and TPS: Trump has worked to strip legal status from more than one million people. Despite a Supreme Court ruling to uphold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals , has since undermined the Supreme Courts decision and is continuing to dismantle the program- again jeopardizing the futures of more than 700,000 people who came to the U.S. as children and the 300,000 who could have qualified for DACA. And by ending Temporary Protected Status for most countries, Trump is ending legal status for hundreds of thousands of people and creating a new population of unauthorized immigrants subject to the threat of deportation. A recent court ruling reversed a previous decision that protected TPS holdersand in as little as six months, deportations could begin. Read more about TPS and DACA.
Changing the structure of the refugee resettlement program: The administration also issued an executive order that permits state and local officials to block resettlement in their cities and states. In January 2020, a judge issued a temporary injunction that halts the policy for now.
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How Are State And Local Authorities Handling These Issues
States vary widely in how they treat unauthorized immigrants. Some states, such as California, allow undocumented immigrants to apply for drivers licenses, receive in-state tuition at universities, and obtain other benefits. At the other end of the spectrum, states such as Arizona have passed laws permitting police to question people they suspect of being unauthorized about their immigration status.
The federal government is generally responsible for enforcing immigration laws, but it delegates some immigration-related duties to state and local law enforcement. However, the degree to which local officials are obliged to cooperate with federal authorities is a subject of intense debate. As of 2019, almost one-quarter of U.S. counties limit their cooperation with ICE, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
The degree to which local officials are obliged to cooperate with federal authorities is a subject of intense debate.
President Trump decried these sanctuary jurisdictions and reinstated a controversial Obama-era program known as Secure Communities, in which the FBI shares fingerprints of suspects collected by state and local law enforcement with federal immigration authorities. Under the program, state and local agencies also hand over individuals presumed to be in the country illegally. Biden terminated the program shortly after taking office.
