Trump’s 5 biggest moves on immigration so far
by Rebecca Beitsch – 01/25/25 6:00 AM ET
President Trump released a flurry of immigration actions this week, signing a series of orders targeting the border and ramping up enforcement.
While Trump has long pledged to address illegal immigration, many of his actions targeted longstanding legal pathways.
“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do,” he said in his inaugural address.
Immigration advocates describe the actions as yet another example of Trump cruelty, targeting vulnerable people while causing further unrest at the border in ways that won’t make Americans safer.
Here’s a look at Trump’s five biggest moves on immigration during his first week in office:
Birthright citizenship
Trump signed an order on Day One to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to many noncitizen parents.
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It’s a move that directly counters the Constitution, which grants citizenship to anyone born in U.S. territory regardless of the status of their parents.
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The order generated some of the first lawsuits — and legal victories — against the Trump administration.
Twenty-two different Democrat-led states sued over the order, as did groups including the American Civil Liberties Union. And a four-group band of states led by Washington scored a temporary injunction blocking the order for the next two weeks.
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, said during the hearing.
The order was broader than just targeting children of those who may not be in the country legally. It applied to anyone in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa, a status that also includes those on work visas, raising numerous questions for how the children of those lawfully present would be viewed under U.S. law.
Refugee program suspended
Another order from Trump paused the U.S. refugee program, leaving the program under review for three months.
The order calls for the Departments of Homeland Security and State to issue a report within 90 days detailing whether it’s in the nation’s interests to resume the admission of refugees.
The secretaries of State and Homeland Security will submit a report every 90 days until it is found that it is appropriate to resume refugee admissions, the order states. Until then, refugee admissions will remain suspended.
Though the order was not set to take effect until Monday, both agencies immediately curtailed their refugee operations.
The State Department suspended refugee flights, saying it was “coordinating with implementing partners to suspend refugee arrivals to the United States and cease processing activities.”
And an email reviewed by The Hill that was sent to staffers who process refugee cases at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also directed them not to “make any final decisions (approval, denial closure) on any refugee application.”
“The refugee program is not just a humanitarian lifeline through which the U.S. has shown global leadership. It represents the gold standard of legal immigration pathways in terms of security screening, community coordination, and mutual economic benefit,” Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, which helps resettle refugees, said in a statement when the order was first announced.
Shutting down the CBP One app
After Trump took office, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol suspended the CBP One App, cancelling all outstanding appointments made by migrants without visas who sought to enter the United States through legal ports of entry.
CBP One was a key component of the Biden administration’s efforts to channel migrants through legal pathways to seek refuge in the United States, one they also used to bring a more orderly process at the border.
Shutting down the app left in limbo those who have been waiting months just to get an appointment.
It also sparked criticism from immigration advocates who said the Trump administration was targeting those who have sought to come to the U.S. through legal channels.
The Trump administration this week also shut down the Safe Mobility portal, another initiative of the Biden administration that established offices across Latin America to help immigrants find legal pathways to the U.S. and dissuade them from migrating illegally.
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