by Mica Rosenberg, and Perla Trevizo, design by Zisiga Mukulu

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President Donald Trump promised a radical reset on immigration, and he didn’t waste any time getting started. Just hours after being sworn in on Jan. 20, he was seated in the Oval Office with a black permanent marker and a stack of leather-bound executive orders. By the end of Day 1, he’d revived many of the same programs and policies he’d previously carried out over four years during his first administration.

There were 10 orders related to immigration in all. And within them lay dozens of policy changes that, if implemented, would upend the immigration system and the lives of millions.

The blitz of executive order signing has continued, so fast and sweeping that it’s been hard to keep up, much less gauge its potential future impact. Trump has paused the resettlement of tens of thousands of refugees who’d already been vetted and approved to relocate to the United States, including as many as 15,000 Afghans. He ended humanitarian parole for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua leaving more than 500,000 already living here in legal limbo. He launched his promised effort to round up and remove millions of unauthorized immigrants starting with those accused of violent crimes, though less than half of the approximately 8,200 people arrested from Jan. 20 through Feb. 2 so far have criminal convictions, according to government data obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.

Taken individually, many of the measures could be considered controversial, said Andrew Selee, president of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, but by the time experts get their mind around one new initiative, they learn there’s been another. “It’s really hard for outside organizations, politicians or the public in general to focus on any one of them,” he said.

In the meantime, some pushback has begun. Two federal judges swiftly blocked an order seeking to end birthright citizenship, calling it unconstitutional, while about a dozen other lawsuits have been filed by civil rights groups, religious organizations and states. Advocates sued this week to reverse an order that declared migrants were invading the country and that authorized the president to use extraordinary powers to stop them. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

In order to provide a glimpse of the enormity of the changes that are underway, ProPublica and the Tribune identified nearly three dozen of the most impactful policy changes set in motion by the orders signed on the first day. Most were pulled from the playbook of Trump’s previous presidency. Others are unprecedented.

Trump Tried It Before

Some of the measures in the executive orders revived policies from Trump’s first administration, including several blocked in court or rescinded following national outcry. Others are expansions of practices that have been carried out by various administrations, both Republican and Democratic.

1. Declare a national emergency at the border

Invokes special presidential powers that allow Trump, among other things, to circumvent Congress to unlock federal funding to build additional border barriers, as well as to deploy the military as needed.

HISTORY

Trump was the first president to declare a national emergency in relation to the border in 2019 to tap into funding to build border barriers after Congress stymied his efforts. The order was legally challenged, and President Joe Biden rescinded it upon taking office.

SOURCE

2. Halt refugee admissions

Temporarily suspends refugee admissions into the United States.

HISTORY

Trump initially paused the refugee resettlement program when he first took office in 2017. He then capped the number of refugees allowed into the country at 18,000, the lowest number in the more than 40-year history of the program.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

Thousands of refugees who already had their travel booked saw their plans canceled. Trump also suspended federal funding to all groups who assist refugees already in the United States, including helping them with housing, finding work and other needs.

SOURCE

3. End “catch and release”

Seeks to end the practice of releasing some immigrants from detention while they await immigration court proceedings.

HISTORY

For years, federal officials under Republicans and Democrats have released certain immigrants they can’t detain, either because of capacity or health or humanitarian concerns. During his first term, Trump ordered an end to “catch and release” practices. But, as did his predecessors, the president had to release tens of thousands of family members and unaccompanied minors because of judges' rulings and laws that ban prolonged detentions for minors, as well as a lack of family detention space.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said the agency is detaining everyone who crosses the border and holding them until they can be processed or transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

SOURCE

4. Make asylum seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. hearings

Orders most non-Mexican immigrants and asylum seekers to wait in Mexico as their cases go through the U.S. immigration court system.

HISTORY

Trump first launched the policy known as the Migration Protection Protocols in 2019 to deter unauthorized crossings. Under the program, the administration returned about 70,000 people to Mexico. Biden sought to end the policy when he first took office, saying it was dangerous and inhumane. A federal judge ordered the Biden administration to restart it, resulting in around 15,000 more immigrants to be placed in the program until the judge's order was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

The Department of Homeland Security announced on Jan. 21 that it was immediately restarting the practice, but it’s unclear how it would be applied since other Trump orders have suspended asylum at the border.

SOURCE

5. Promotes third-country asylum agreements

Allows the U.S. government to reach agreements with other governments to send back immigrants to places other than their home countries where they can seek asylum.

HISTORY

While Trump reached what they called Asylum Cooperative Agreements with El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala during his first term, only the Guatemalan policy went into effect, with 945 asylum seekers being transferred to the Central American country over a year.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, reached an agreement with El Salvador that would allow the U.S. to send deported immigrants from other countries to the Central American nation.

SOURCE

6. DNA testing of some immigrants

Requires the DNA testing of some unauthorized immigrants and asylum seekers, in particular families.

HISTORY

During his first term, Trump required that the Department of Homeland Security collect DNA samples from immigrant families, which was later expanded to include others in its custody. The Biden administration revoked the DNA testing contract in 2023.

SOURCE

7. Expanding who is targeted for deportation

Expands the focus of arrests of immigrants beyond those who pose a security threat to include anyone who is in the country illegally.

HISTORY

ICE during the Biden administration was instructed to focus the arrests of immigrants on those in the country illegally who posed threats to the country, border security or public safety. Due to limited resources, agents could decline to take action when there were mitigating factors like age, health, military status, length of time in the country or pending humanitarian applications. Those priorities were challenged and ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

On Jan. 21, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued a directive rescinding ICE guidelines, in place since 2011, that required officers to get prior approval to conduct arrests at certain “sensitive locations” such as schools, hospitals and churches. Media reports have already detailed some ICE arrests near churches. A group of Quakers sued over the policy, saying it violates the First Amendment.

SOURCE

8. Focus Homeland Security Investigations on immigration enforcement

Calls for the “primary mission” of the investigative arm of the Homeland Security Department to be enforcing laws related to illegal immigration, rather than its broad mandate to tackle human trafficking, drug smuggling, child sexual abuse and a host of other complex crimes.

HISTORY

A 2019 ProPublica investigation found that the Department of Homeland Security had shifted money away from more complex investigations to support Trump’s push to arrest and deport unauthorized immigrants during his first term, including reassigning hundreds of agents to low-level enforcement tasks.

SOURCE

9. Expansion of expedited removal

Expands fast-track deportation proceedings for people who cannot prove they have been in the country for more than two years.

HISTORY

In 2019, Trump implemented a similar policy to expand the fast-track deportation proceedings, known as “expedited removal.” Before, the practice only applied to people apprehended within 100 miles of a land border who couldn’t prove they had been in the United States for 14 days, as opposed to the broader time frame of two years. Immigrant advocates sued the previous Trump administration over the rule, but the case became moot after Biden reversed the policy.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

A Jan. 24 Federal Register notice put the policy into effect. The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups have already filed a lawsuit challenging the policy.

SOURCE

10. Put pressure on “recalcitrant countries” to take back deportees

Pushes foreign governments to accept the deportation of their own nationals.

HISTORY

For years, the U.S. has kept track of “recalcitrant countries,” such as Venezuela and Cuba, whose governments have refused to take back their own nationals, hampering deportation efforts. Trump’s first administration issued visa sanctions against Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea and Sierra Leone for failing to accept deportees.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

In a brief diplomatic blow-up, the president of Colombia refused to accept two U.S. military planes carrying deportees, citing concerns about the migrants’ treatment. Trump responded by threatening to impose retaliatory tariffs and visa restrictions on officials and members of the president's family, and the U.S. Embassy in Bogota cancelled visa appointments. Colombia in turn promised to levy its own tariffs on U.S. imports but then backed down and agreed to accept the flights.

SOURCE

11. Create an office to assist victims of crimes committed by immigrants

Establishes a hotline for people to inform the government about immigrants involved in crimes.

HISTORY

The order reestablished the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office, which Trump created in his first administration. Biden dismantled the office and established what he called the Victims Engagement and Services Line to support all crime victims regardless of immigration status. It also included information about reporting abuses inside immigration detention facilities and immigration benefits for crime or trafficking victims.

SOURCE

12. Limit Temporary Protected Status

Says that the legal status that temporarily protects some immigrants from deportation should be “limited in scope.”

HISTORY

Trump in the first administration sought to end Temporary Protected Status for thousands of immigrants living in the country legally, impacting some 400,000 people from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan. The ACLU and other advocacy organizations won a lawsuit challenging the policy. The Biden administration extended TPS to hundreds of thousands of people, including Venezuelans.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

The Trump administration revoked deportation protections for more than 300,000 Venezuelans that Biden had granted before leaving office.

SOURCE

13. Increasing scrutiny of work permits

Says the administration will ensure employment authorization is provided in a manner consistent with immigration law. Does not provide many specifics.

HISTORY

Various Trump-era rules tried to make it more difficult for asylum-seekers to access work authorizations while they waited — sometimes for years — for their claims to be resolved in immigration court. Several nonprofit organizations sued over the policies, later vacated by a federal judge.

SOURCE

14. Target sanctuary jurisdictions

Bars so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement from accessing federal funds and instructs the attorney general to take civil or criminal action against them.

HISTORY

The measure goes further than similar attempts in Trump’s first term to halt some specific law enforcement grants to targeted localities. From the first day of his previous administration, Trump battled against local jurisdictions that refused to cooperate with parts of his immigration crackdown by threatening to limit Department of Justice law enforcement grants as well as suing California over its sanctuary law.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

On Jan. 21, the Justice Department instructed U.S. attorneys offices to investigate and prosecute noncompliance with immigration enforcement initiatives.

SOURCE

15. Information sharing

Ensures more information is shared with the Department of Homeland Security for law enforcement or immigration status verification and anti-human trafficking efforts.

HISTORY

Unaccompanied migrant children who arrive at the border and are taken into custody have protections under U.S. law and a long-standing legal settlement that says they are supposed to be released to sponsors — usually parents or relatives — in the U.S. In the first Trump administration, the agency in charge of their care began sharing information with ICE and expanded the collection of fingerprints from people in the sponsor’s household to aid in the arrest and deportation of those in the country illegally. Congress moved to place some limitations on the practice. Cases have emerged of migrant children working illegally, sometimes in dangerous jobs, after being released from federal custody to sponsors.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

ProPublica reported that a longtime immigration enforcement official has been tapped to run the agency responsible for managing unaccompanied migrant children, in a move that has alarmed experts and advocates who are concerned about further information-sharing between the two agencies. ICE has been granted access to a database with information on unaccompanied kids, according to media reports and a former government source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of continued relationships with the government.

SOURCE

16. Denying public benefits to unauthorized immigrants

Revokes the eligibility for public benefits of immigrants living in the country illegally.

HISTORY

Unauthorized immigrants are already ineligible for many public benefits. The first Trump administration introduced a new rule that said immigrants likely to become a “public charge” would be ineligible for admission into the country or unable to adjust their immigration status once here. The rule was subject to litigation and blocked in court.

SOURCE

17. Travel bans

Seeks to identify countries considered to have “vetting and screening information” that is “deficient” in order to determine whether it is fully or partially suspending entry of those nations’ citizens to the U.S.

HISTORY

Soon after taking office, Trump issued a sweeping travel ban that barred nearly all travelers from five mainly Muslim countries as well as North Korea and Venezuela. The order was immediately challenged in court. After several revisions, the U.S. Supreme Court eventually upheld a third version of the order.

SOURCE

18. Denaturalizing U.S. citizens

Puts resources toward revoking U.S. citizenship for certain offenses.

HISTORY

The first Trump administration launched an effort to strip a large number of Americans of their citizenship, including a new section created by the Department of Justice in 2020 dedicated to these cases. According to the ACLU, under past administrations, those targeted for denaturalization were often Nazis and other war criminals, but the first Trump administration included a broader swath of people.

SOURCE

19. Expulsion based on public health concerns

Suspends or restricts entry of immigrants who pose a public health risk.

HISTORY

In March 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration implemented a public health rule, known as Title 42, that rapidly expelled back to Mexico almost all migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum. Biden continued that policy for two years before ending it.

SOURCE

20. Deploy military troops to the border

Tasks the secretary of defense with deploying troops to help secure the southern border.

HISTORY

During his first term in office, Trump ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border, something both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama did during their administrations. Military bases have also been used in the past to temporarily house migrants.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

The Defense Department has sent 1,500 additional active-duty service members to the border, on top of the 2,500 members already in the region. U.S. military aircraft have also started flying undocumented immigrants out of the country, and a base in Colorado will be used to process immigrants arrested in enforcement operations.

SOURCE

21. Build border barriers

Orders the secretaries of defense and homeland security to build additional border barriers and to coordinate with state governors willing to assist.

HISTORY

Trump first ordered the erection of a border wall in 2017 and used a national emergency declaration to divert military funds for its construction. By the end of his first term, his administration had built about 450 miles, most of it replacing existing structures. Border barriers had mostly been in place since 1996, their construction happening under Democratic and Republican administrations.

SOURCE

22. Land acquisition for border barriers

Allows the attorney general to seize land adjacent or near the border to build barriers or for other uses.

HISTORY

The Department of Justice used eminent domain to speed up the construction of border barriers during Trump’s first term, an issue he campaigned on and that was later the subject of an executive order he signed. The federal government previously used the legal maneuver after President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act in 2006.

SOURCE

23. Ramping up criminal prosecutions of people crossing the border illegally

Directs U.S. agencies to prioritize the prosecution of entering and reentering the country illegally, which under U.S. law is a crime.

HISTORY

In Trump’s first term, Attorney General Jeff Sessions implemented a zero-tolerance policy to prosecute all border crossers, which led to family separations affecting thousands of children. The Biden administration formed a task force to reunite families that remained separated years later, but on Day 1 Trump disbanded it.

SOURCE

24. Expanding detention

Calls for the Homeland Security Department to “take all appropriate action” to expand facilities to detain immigrants.

HISTORY

Trump early in his first term also pledged through executive action to expand detentions. And while space to hold people is limited and dependent on funding from Congress, his administration opened new facilities. Detentions also grew under Obama, who expanded family detention.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

The Washington Post reported that ICE is preparing to more than double its detention capacity by opening four new 10,000-bed facilities and 14 smaller sites with space for 700 to 1,000 people, with the Department of Defense potentially using military bases. The White House also said it would expand capacity at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to detain some unauthorized immigrants with serious criminal backgrounds.

SOURCE

25. Local cooperation for immigration enforcement

Authorizes state and local law enforcement officials to perform the functions of immigration officers under the supervision of the Department of Homeland Security and through so-called 287(g) cooperation agreements.

HISTORY

In his first term, Trump also moved to expand 287(g) agreements, which have been around since the early 2000s. Biden kept many of them in place and as of December 2024, there were dozens of local law enforcement agencies participating in them across the country. Critics say the program has been costly for localities and has led in the past to racial profiling and caused distrust between police and local communities.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

Following the order, the Texas attorney general entered into an agreement with the administration to help with immigration enforcement, and Gov. Greg Abbott gave the state’s National Guard the authority to arrest immigrants at the border, which they weren’t allowed to do before. Experts say Texas, which already has gone further than any other states on immigration, could serve as a model under this order.

SOURCE

26. Increase immigration agent hiring

Increases the number of ICE and border agents.

HISTORY

Trump in his first term also pledged to hire 15,000 new Border Patrol agents and immigration officers, but those plans fell short. Previous administrations have also pledged to hire more customs officers and border agents, but the agencies have struggled to find and retain qualified personnel.

SOURCE

27. Enhanced vetting

Pledges to ensure that all migrants seeking entry into the United States “are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

HISTORY

During Trump’s first term, he also promised “extreme vetting” and early on began collecting social media handles from visa applicants and refugees, even though refugees have long been one of the most thoroughly vetted categories of people entering the country. Immigrant advocates sued over some of these changes when they alleged it resulted in blanket denials of refugee admissions.

SOURCE

Policies He Hasn’t Tried Before

Some of Trump’s measures have never been tried before, like his bid to end birthright citizenship. Others, if implemented, would push the powers of the presidency much further. Orders that declare an invasion of migrants on the border or designate drug cartels and certain transnational gangs as terrorists could have wide-reaching implications that are not yet completely clear.

1. Defines situation at the border as an “invasion”

Suspends the entry of immigrants across the southern border until Trump determines the “invasion” has concluded. Cites a lack of capacity to properly screen people’s criminal history and a public health risk at the border due to the large number of border apprehensions in recent years.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

On Jan. 23, the acting homeland security secretary used the invocation of an invasion to call on states and local governments to help the federal government with immigration enforcement. The ACLU and a coalition of immigrant rights advocates sued to block the order, arguing it cuts off access to asylum in violation of U.S. law.

SOURCE

2. Make the border a military priority

States that it is the mission of the U.S. Armed Forces to seal the borders and maintain the “sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States.” Until now, immigration has not been part of the military’s core mission.

SOURCE

3. Seeks to end birthright citizenship

Attempts to end birthright citizenship of children born to parents either illegally in the United States or under a temporary legal status, something Trump had only said he wanted to do in his first term.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

Two federal judges immediately blocked the order after at least two dozen Democratic-led states and immigrant rights groups filed multiple lawsuits seeking a temporary restraining order.

SOURCE

4. End Biden-era humanitarian programs at the border

Ends programs that had allowed some immigrants and asylum-seekers to legally enter and work in the United States temporarily.

HISTORY

Under the programs put in place by Biden, Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans could apply for humanitarian parole from abroad and fly to the U.S. if approved, while migrants waiting in Mexico could apply to enter the U.S. through a cellphone app known as CBP One and then seek asylum.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

A Jan. 23 Department of Homeland Security memo gives immigration officials the power to quickly deport more than a million immigrants who were allowed into the country under the two Biden-era programs. Migrants who had pending appointments to approach the border on the CBP One app saw them abruptly canceled.

SOURCE

5. Immigrant registration

Invokes a law that requires all noncitizens to register and present their fingerprints to the U.S. government or be subject to criminal penalties.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

A Jan. 21 Justice Department memo mentions it could prosecute and fine immigrants in the country who fail to register with the government.

SOURCE

6. Ending and clawing back funding from organizations that support migrants

Seeks to stop or limit money to nongovernmental organizations that provide shelter and services to migrants released at the border, as well as legal orientation programs for people in immigration proceedings.

HISTORY

The Biden administration distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support these programs. During the first Trump administration, Department of Justice officials told providers it was halting its legal orientation program, but then Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed course after pushback from Congress and advocates.

WHAT’S HAPPENED SINCE

The Department of Justice told legal service providers who receive federal funding to stop holding legal orientation and other programs with immigrants. Legal service providers sued to reestablish the services in detention centers. Some services reportedly have been restored following a ruling in a separate lawsuit.

SOURCE

7. Designating international drug cartels, gangs as terrorists

Starts a process to designate drug cartels, the Central American gang MS-13 and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations. Also threatens to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which experts said would have the effect of allowing people suspected of being members of those organizations to be deported even if they had legal status in the U.S.

SOURCE

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