Immigration Policy to Take Center Stage in 2025

Having almost ten years of experience in federal immigration policy, predicting the extent of changes to our current immigration system over the next four years is challenging. But we do have an idea of where to focus as immigration played a crucial role in President-elect Trump's 2024 campaign, where he often emphasized promises of widespread deportation, particularly focusing on interior enforcement and punitive enforcement measures.

While human rights advocates and border security scholars alike agree that immigration policy reform is long overdue, the changes proposed by President-elect Trump's campaign suggest a new system entirely.

Here are just a few of the policy changes that we could see under the incoming Administration:

Ending Birthright Citizenship - President-elect Trump has stated that he will sign an executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of some immigrants despite it being a guaranteed right under the U.S. Constitution.

Termination of Flores Protections for Children in immigration custody - The Flores settlement is a legal agreement settled in 1997 that outlines certain protection for immigrant children while in U.S. custody. Its most well-known provision, prohibits the detention of children for more than 20 days. Protections were expanded in the 2008 reauthorization of Trafficking Victims Protection Act that included provisions requiring Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to turn over unaccompanied minors to HHS and the Office of Refugee Resettlement within 72 hours. President-elect Trump and his Congressional supporters have claimed that these protections hinder the large-scale detention of migrant families.

Elimination of Parole and other Relief Programs - Project 2025 cites the removal of relief to vulnerable groups, including Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and visas for victims of crime.

Ending Diversity Visa Lottery - The "diversity visa lottery," also known as the "green card lottery," is a U.S. government program that randomly selects a limited number of individuals each year to receive immigrant visas, aiming to diversify the immigrant population by prioritizing applicants from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States.

Restricting Family-Based Migration - President-elect Trump has long been opposed to family-based migration or what he refers to as "chain migration." His campaign proposed prioritizing a merit-based system instead.

Increase in 287 G Agreements - With plans for mass deportations across the country, the Trump administration will need to rely on local authorities and county jails for assistance.

Mass Deportations - President-elect Trump has stated that he will declare a  national emergency and use the U.S. military to carry out mass deportations of tens of millions of undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S., many of whom have been living and working in the country for decades.

Revival of Muslim Ban - One of the first actions that the Trump Administration took in January of 2017 was to ban individuals from Muslim majority countries and refugees from entering the United States. Thousands of individuals were detained at airports across the United States by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

Revival of Public Charge measures - In 2019, the Trump Administration finalized regulations that would expand the definition of “public charge” to include non-cash benefits such as Medicaid, housing assistance, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Elimination of ICE Safety Zones - One of the key proposals of Project 2025 is to remove the current protections around sensitive areas like schools, hospitals, and religious institutions. Without these protections, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could conduct raids in these locations.

Mandatory E-Verify - A push for mandatory E-Verify for all employers could be expected, aimed at ensuring employment eligibility verification. While this proposal has strong support from Congressional Republicans, in recent years, it has not gained unanimous support.

Revival of border closures - President-elect Trump's campaign site proposed the revival of all border policies from the first Trump administration including Title 42 and the "Remain in Mexico" program