Immigration policy of the second Trump administration
was inaugurated for his second term as president on January 20, 2025, with one of his key campaign promises being to crack down on illegal immigration. That evening, Trump signed several executive orders related to immigration, including declaring a national emergency at the Mexico–United States border, blocking asylum seekers from entering the U.S., ending the process of "catch and release" for illegal immigrants, ending birthright citizenship for new children born to parents who are not U.S. permanent residents, suspending almost all refugee admissions to the U.S., and officially designating certain international cartels and criminal organizations as terrorists. Trump signed the Laken Riley Act on January 29, 2025, which mandates the detention of immigrants who are charged with or convicted of certain crimes.
Trump oversaw a sharp decrease in illegal border crossings after taking office in 2025. During the first few months of Trump's second presidency, illegal border crossings fell to the lowest level in decades. In addition, many visitors and immigrants already present in the U.S. were deported, while others have voluntarily left the country. The Department of Homeland Security claims that in 2025, more than 2.5 million had either been deported or voluntarily left. In a January 2026 report, the Brookings Institution stated that the United States experienced negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in decades, which was estimated to be -10,000 to -295,000 people. The overall strategy of the Trump administration and the often brutal tactics employed by the DHS have received widespread criticism, and protests have erupted across the country in response.
Policies and presidential actions
Restricting entry and increasing expedited removal as a response to an "invasion"
President Trump issued Proclamation 10888, titled "Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion", which mandates various actions. The proclamation claims that the steps and actions mandated are part of the executive branch's compliance with their duties under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, which guarantees that the federal government will protect the states against invasion. President Trump considers the flow of immigrants at the southern border to be an invasion and so mandates the following steps:- Suspend the physical entry of aliens who are at the southern border and engaged in the invasion until the invasion has ended.
- For aliens already within the United States, they cannot invoke laws, such as asylum laws, that would allow them to continue inside the United States.
- The Department of Homeland Security can take any appropriate steps to remove any aliens involved in the invasion, including using expedited removal – which is a process whereby undocumented immigrants can be removed from the country without a full and formal court proceeding. This would expand the use of expedited removal as it would now apply both to undocumented immigrants within the U.S. and to those arriving at a U.S. border without authorization.
Changing the process of applying for admission into the United States
President Trump's Executive Order 14165, titled "Securing Our Borders", makes three big changes to the process of applying for admission into the United States.Reinstating Migrant Protection Protocols
First, Trump reinstated the Migrant Protection Protocols, a policy also known as "Remain in Mexico" that was put in place during his first term in office. This program states that all asylum-seekers or refugees who arrive at the southern border seeking entry into the United States must remain in or return to Mexico while they await their admission or court removal proceedings, if already entered illegally. In other words, asylum-seekers cannot come into or stay in the United States during this waiting period.Terminating the CBP One application
Secondly, this executive order also terminated the "CBP One" mobile application. This app was a program developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to allow migrants to secure immigration appointments, such as appointments for inspection and for asylum applications. Within an hour of Trump's inauguration, the app was discontinued and migrants who accessed CBP One found that their appointments were canceled. All appointments that were already scheduled at the time the executive order was signed were cancelled. The executive order claims that this will stop migrants, who are otherwise inadmissible, from using this app to facilitate their entry into the United States.Ending categorical parole programs
Lastly, the executive order also put an end to categorical parole programs. These programs allowed migrants from certain countries to stay in the U.S. for a certain period, due to various reasons. Executive Order 14165 terminates these programs, and Executive Order 14159, titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion", goes further and orders that all parole applications be processed on a case-by-case basis. Paroled individuals are only to be admitted, or allowed to remain in the U.S., if they show an urgent humanitarian need or if they can contribute significantly to the United States. This change creates uncertainty as to whether individuals who would have previously been granted temporary status under one of the categorical parole programs, or who are currently in the United States under one of those programs, will now be able to come into or stay in the United States.A notice in the Federal Register states that DHS is terminating the Family Reunification Parole Processes programs as of December 15, 2025. If parole has not already expired by January 14, 2026, it will terminate on that date.
Expanding border control and security
President Trump enacted Proclamation 10886, which declares a national emergency at the southern border of the United States under the National Emergencies Act. This declaration grants him certain powers to be able to deal with the emergency, such as being able to allocate more of the military budget to this. For instance, invoking these emergency powers gives him authority to call for deploying more troops and military equipment to the southern border, creating additional detention facilities, and fortifying the physical barriers, such as the wall – all of which Trump calls for in this proclamation.Section 5 of the proclamation revokes a proclamation signed by former President Biden in 2021, which halted funding for border wall construction. Similarly, Trump's Executive Order 14165 also calls for additional construction of physical barriers and for deploying more troops to the southern border.
Additionally, Proclamation 10886 gives more authority and discretion to the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to carry out what is being asked of them. For example, they have the discretion to appoint as many troops as they deem necessary. Going along with their expanded power, Section 3 of the proclamation also urges the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission to waive their regulations that might hinder the ability of the Department of Homeland Security to detect, track, and potentially mitigate drones or other unmanned aircraft along the southern border that may be deemed a threat. In the proclamation, President Trump claims that, as Commander in Chief, these actions are a necessary part of his duty to protect Americans.
Refugee admissions
President Trump signed Executive Order 14163, titled "Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program." This order proclaims that the entry of new refugees will be detrimental to the United States and, because of that, it suspends the entry of any new refugees under the current Refugee Admissions Program for a period of 90 days. In other words, no current refugee applications under the program can be accepted or denied until the program is resumed. In the meantime, only a few exceptions will be made to admit on a case-by-case basis refugees who are deemed not to pose a threat and whose admission is considered in the interest of the U.S. After the 90 days, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security will report whether resuming the program will be beneficial to the United States. If so, the President can decide to resume the program. If not, they will continue to report every 90 days until the President decides that it is in the best interest of the U.S. to resume the Refugee Admissions Program. President Trump claims this is necessary to protect and preserve U.S. resources for citizens and to ensure that the refugees admitted have a chance to assimilate. Where the President is deriving the authority to do this is from the Immigration and Nationality Act and parts of the U.S. Code, which grant the President the ability to suspend entry of immigrants he deems would be detrimental to the United States.In 2025, the Trump administration announced that it planned to slash refugee admissions to the US for 2026 to a record low of 7,500 refugees, down from a cap of 125,000 for 2025. The administration plans to prioritize Afrikaners, an ethnic group of white South Africans.
A memo dated 21 November 2025 by the director of USCIS orders a review of all refugees admitted under the Biden administration. Following the 2025 Washington, D.C., National Guard shooting, USCIS put a "hold on all pending asylum applications".
The administration was reported to have moved to end thousands of asylum cases, arguing for asylum seekers to be deported to third countries.