What Has Changed With Immigration Under Trump and What Is Still Playing Out?

Immigration

By Associated Press

Published 6 months ago on

January 28, 2025

A group of migrants wait to be processed between two border walls separating Mexico and the United States after crossing illegally before dawn Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in San Diego. (AP/Gregory Bull)

Immigration arrests surged under Trump, averaging 710 daily, surpassing Biden's rates, with expanded priorities and increased agency coordination.
Deportations rise, military planes used; Colombia tariff threat highlights Trump's hardball diplomacy on repatriation disputes.
Trump reinstates “Remain in Mexico” policy, ends border app permits, and halts refugee resettlements pending further review.

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — During his first week in office, President Donald Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration and issued a slew of edicts to carry out promises of mass deportations and border security.

Some actions were felt immediately. Others face legal challenges. Some may take years to happen, if ever, but have generated fear in immigrant communities.

Much of what Trump can do will boil down to money. Congress is expected to consider additional support soon. Trump may use emergency powers to tap the Defense Department, as he did for a border wall in his first term.

Here’s a look at how immigration policy has changed so far under Trump and what hasn’t happened yet:

Immigration Arrests

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it made an average of 710 immigration arrests daily from Thursday through Monday, up from a daily average of 311 in a 12-month period through September under President Joe Biden. If that rate holds, it would surpass ICE’s previous high mark set in the Obama administration, when daily arrests averaged 636 in 2013.

Numbers spiked starting Sunday and included highly publicized operations, including in Atlanta, Dallas and, most prominently, Chicago.

The Trump administration has highlighted participation of other agencies in ICE operations, a departure from Biden. They include the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — all part of the Justice Department — and the Homeland Security Department’s Customs and Border Protection, which includes the Border Patrol.

Emile Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, observed arrests in Chicago on Sunday in a sign of the Justice Department’s growing involvement.

Trump expanded arrest priorities to anyone in the country illegally, not just people with criminal convictions, public safety or national security threats and migrants stopped at the border. Still, some said it was business as usual for ICE — at least so far.

“There’s nothing unique about it,” said Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, a research and advocacy group that favors immigration restrictions.

He anticipates more enforcement in next few weeks and believes Congress will approve funding for up to 80,000 beds, about double the current level. ICE needs the space to hold people while any legal proceedings play out and while it arranges deportations.

Deportations

ICE hasn’t said how many people it has deported since Trump took office gain, but the administration has highlighted removal flights, including the use of military planes.

Under Biden, ICE deported more than 270,000 people in a 12-month period that ended in September. That was the highest annual tally in a decade, helped by an increase in deportation flights. The Biden administration did not use military planes.

In an episode that may signal more hardball diplomacy with governments that resist or refuse to take back their citizens, Trump said Sunday that he would raise tariffs 25% on Colombia after President Gustavo Petro refused to let two military planes land with deportees. Trump put the tariffs measures on hold after Petro backed down.

A C-27 military transport plane landed Monday in Guatemala, with 80 deportees in shackles and handcuffs. “It’s my first attempt of the year and I don’t know if I will try again because it’s hard,” said Jacobo Dueñas, 38, who was arrested Friday on the Texas border.

The Trump administration made it easier for ICE to deport people without appearing before an immigration judge by expanding “expedited removal” authority nationwide for anyone in the country up to two years. The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the fast-track deportations in court.

Some Steps That Could Have a Major Impact Have yet to Be Seen on a Large Scale

The administration ended a policy to avoid arrests at “sensitive locations,” including schools, hospitals and places of worship. It said it may deport people who entered the country legally on parole, a presidential authority that Biden used more than any president.

It also threatened to punish “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Border Enforcement

Trump ended use of a border app to allow migrants to enter the country on two-year permits with eligibility to work, canceling tens of thousands of appointments into early February for people stranded in Mexico. Nearly 1 million people entered the U.S. at land crossings with Mexico by using the CBP One app.

Trump also ended a policy that allowed more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to fly to the country on two-year permits if they had a financial sponsor.

Other actions will time to play out. Trump secured Mexico’s approval to reinstate a hallmark policy of his first term, “Remain in Mexico,” which requires asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.

The Pentagon began deploying 1,500 active-duty troops to the border last week but it was unclear if they will break from supporting roles they have played under presidents since George W. Bush, including ground and aerial surveillance, building barriers and repairing vehicles.

An 1878 law prohibits military involvement in civilian law enforcement, but Trump and his aides have signaled he may invoke wartime powers. Trump said in his order that the Defense Department can assist with detention and transportation.

What Else?

Trump stopped resettling refugees who are vetted abroad before entering the United States until further review, a program that he largely dismantled in his first term and was resurrected under Biden. Groups that provide temporary housing, job training and other support said the State Department told them Friday to stop work immediately.

The Justice Department also told legal aid groups to stop work on federal programs that help people in immigration courts and detention centers navigate complex laws.

Trump said he was ending automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil, a precedent established by constitutional amendment in 1868. A federal judge in Seattle has put it on hold.