President Donald J. Trump’s first day in office on January 20th, 2025, was sealed by his passing forty-six presidential actions in line with “President Trump’s America First Priorities”. Keeping in line with his campaign promises to eliminate illegal immigration many of his executive orders are targeted at immigration. A few hours into his second term President Trump suspended US asylum, along with refugee, and other humanitarian programs. He also increased security screening of all foreign nationals seeking entry to the US and continued with his campaign to limit birthright citizenship. Let’s examine a few of Trump’s mandates that affect our communities.
Suspension of US Asylum
Declaring a national emergency at the US southern border, Trump immediately ended use of the CBP One border app and in his first week back in office, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has reported deporting approximately 7,300 people of various nationalities.
The CBP One border app was launched by the Biden administration to enable “noncitizens without appropriate documents for admission who seek to travel to the United States through certain southwest border land ports of entry (POEs) the ability to submit information through a module within the application instead of coming directly to wait at a POE.” Essentially it was a queue that allowed those seeking asylum to enter the US as they awaited adjudication of their cases. The revocation of the app shattered the hopes of people who had waited for months to cross the border into the US in search of a better life. It is reported that “almost as soon as” President Trump took the oath of office, the application informed applicants that “existing appointments scheduled through CBP One are no longer valid.” The news travelled down to Mexico City where many Venezuelan migrants have stopped while trying to make their way to the US. Faced with Trump’s measures to shut down the border and expel nondocumented individuals, some have conceded to return to South America with nothing but failed hopes while others are praying a “spectral force or improbable pang of conscience will touch the heart of Trump.”
Mass Deportations
The administration has been hard at work carrying out operations of mass deportations with active round up campaigns throughout the US using not only Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), but also enlisting the forces of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), the US Marshalls, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (“FBI”) and other federal agencies.” According to the Washington Post “[T]he administration wants to increase the number of arrests from a few hundred per day to at least 1,200 to 1,500” and the administration has expanded its authority to remove undocumented individuals within the US by granting ICE the power to deport individuals without first appearing before an immigration judge. Since the beginning of Trump’s term, there have been raids in cities including Chicago, New York, Denver, and Los Angeles. The Department of Homeland Security announced it was ending a policy that restricted ICE agents’ ability to arrest undocumented people “at or near so-called sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.” Expedited removals have resulted in deportation flights leaving the US swiftly. The ACLU has filed suit to stop the procedure.
Trump has also announced plans to construct a detention facility in the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to hold up to 30,000 people. Noting it would hold "the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people" yet would be separate from its high-security military prison on the base which houses terrorism suspects. Trump has ordered the existing facility at Guantanamo be expanded and run by ICE. The President’s announcement came as he signed the on January 29th Laken Riley Act into law on January 29th, which requires undocumented immigrants who are arrested for theft or violent crimes in the US to be held in jail pending trial. It has been reported that the first flight of deportees to Guantanamo took off on February 4, 2025.
Diplomatic Standoff
Deportation flights to Colombia were met with conflict when President Gustavo Petro initially stopped two military planes carrying deported Colombian nationals from the US from landing in his country on Sunday, January 26th. The Trump administration quickly responded with threats of punitive tariffs on the country’s exports to the US and issuing visa restrictions on Colombian officials and enhanced customs inspections of goods from the country. In the interest of his country, President Petro backed down and the country agreed to accept the deportees "without limitation or delay." However, the agreement between the Presidents late Sunday evening was a bit too late for Colombian nationals who arrived at the US Embassy in Bogota on Monday morning to learn their appointments to legally travel to the US had been cancelled. In a country where “it can take up to two years to get a visa appointment” for a B1/B2 visa the short lived diplomatic quarrel left many visa applicants as collateral damage. As of Monday, January 27th, a spokesperson for the State Department said “the agency had no updates on when visas for Colombian travelers would again be issued at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá.” Meanwhile, it has been reported by CBS News that Miami International Airport is using a single line for travelers arriving from Colombia, regardless of their citizenship status as of Tuesday, January 30thand Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”)’s statement on the matter did not address the fact travelers from Colombia were being separated upon arrival in the US.
Extreme Vetting
Based on the above, it appears that Trump has already put in place his call for enhanced vetting and security screening of foreign nationals applying for US visas, entry into the United States, or US immigration benefits with Colombia. Under the “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” executive order, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence, are charged with establishing screening and vetting standards “consistent with the uniform baseline that existed” during Trump’s first tenure as President. This order brings about speculation that the Trump administration is setting up a return of the Travel Ban instituted during his first tenure, which had been ended by the Biden administration.
End of Birthright Citizenship
Trump is also attempting to end birthright citizenship. He is seeking to limit the right of birthright citizenship in the United States, which is guaranteed by Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, for certain groups of children born after February 19, 2025. Trump’s Executive Order would deny US citizenship to children unless the biological mother or father is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. This means that certain groups of children born in the United States under these circumstances:
A child whose mother is unlawfully present in the United States and the father is not a US citizen or has a Green Card at the time of the child’s birth; or
A child whose mother is lawfully, but temporarily, in the United States, and the father is not a US citizen or Green Card holding permanent resident in the US at the time of the child’s birth.
Under Trump’s order, the children of those in the US under lawful temporary status including but not limited to B-1/B-2 visitor, F-1 or other student status, H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, P-1 and any other temporary employment-based nonimmigrant status born in the US after February 19, 2025, would not be US Citizens.
On January 23, 2025 after twenty-two states joined together to block Trump’s Birthright citizenship order, US District Judge John Coughenour signed a temporary restraining order blocking President Trump’s executive order.
Besides issuing his own Executive Orders, President Trump also rescinded Executive Orders instituted by the Biden Administration. The implications of the end of certain orders will have an effect on Immigration.
End of STEM Protections
Trump rescinded President Biden’s Executive Order 14110 “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” which directed immigration agencies to modernize and develop immigration pathways for emerging technologies experts to help the US attract and retain foreign STEM and AI talent. This order opened the possibility for foreign talent to seek employment in the US outside of the traditional H-1B route and clarified how individuals with extraordinary ability in STEM fields may qualify O-1A visas and provide a path to permanent residency through EB-1 and EB-2 immigrant petitions. The order also opened the door for startup founders in AI and other critical and emerging technologies to use International Entrepreneur Rule. The Department of State (“DOS”) followed suit and streamlined its guidance with regards to the issuance of waivers for nonimmigrant visas for US college graduates. With Trump’s revocation of the Biden-era order, the creation of a more favorable landscape for individuals with STEM degrees may be compromised.
More Administrative Roadblocks
President Trump also rescinded Biden’s Executive Order 14012 “Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans”, which reduced barriers to legal migration and access to immigration benefits by making the naturalization process more accessible. The Biden order paved the way for allowing biometrics appointment rescheduling by phone, it continued the International Entrepreneur Parole Program, launched the pilot domestic visa renewal program facilitating H-1B visa holders to renew their visas in the US rather than having to travel abroad to renew, and revived USCIS guidance giving deference to prior determinations when adjudicating extension of petition validity requests which involved the same parties and facts unless there was a material error, material change, or new material facts which had been rescinded by the Trump administration during his first term.
Since these orders are now rescinded, it is unclear how these changes will be affected but it is likely that all will be impacted. We will update this blog as we know more.
Conclusion
As the Trump administration ramps up its deportation campaign and looking back at the policies enacted during his prior term, we can predict that we will be seeing many more mandates affecting immigration in the near future from the Trump administration. This being the case, we encourage visa applicants to remain steadfast and proactive in their pursuits. Plan to file petitions and applications early and expect delays. We expect challenges to most of the administration’s policies as we have seen in the past week and will keep you abreast of the issues affecting immigration. Please contact us or an immigration attorney if you are affected by the new policies or have questions.