Trump’s migration policy takes effect

On 5th February morning, a US military aircraft landed in the city of Amritsar with the first batch of some 18,000 illegal Indian immigrants due to be deported from the US. This was a part of the new US President’s deportation policy that he has undertaken since he assumed office last month. As soon as Donald Trump assumed presidency, he declared a national emergency in the United States on its southern border with Mexico. Deportations have remained a key cornerstone to Trump’s immigration crackdown policy– to effectively remove illegal immigrants from the US soil, which entails identifying illegal immigrants and deporting them to their native country. Countries like Colombia that have objected to taking back the illegal immigrants  have been threatened with punitive tariffs by the Trump administration, thereby doubling the pressure on these countries. Moreover, the Trump administration has asked to create a space for at least 30,000 illegal migrants at Guantanamo Bay,  an order which has received massive criticism from immigration experts for the legalities of the move. 

The Trump administration has also shut down the ‘CBP One’ mobile application under the Customs and Border Patrol agency that allowed migrants to schedule appointments at border entry points. CBP was an app created by the Biden administration, providing an online platform for migrants to use and enter the country legally for work and for the immigrants that were fleeing prosecution. Most of the refugees entering the US are fleeing persecution, violence and political dysfunction in Latin American countries like Mexico and Venezuela. The app provided approvals for an average of 1000 people each day. As soon as the policy took effect, the CBP app was shut down immediately, leaving about 30,000 migrants in Mexico stranded as their scheduled appointments were taken down.

In addition to this, Trump has increased border security at the US’s southern border with Mexico, deploying 1500 additional troops. The Pentagon has also deployed helicopters to increase “surveillance” at the border and help the border administration  construct barriers to prevent migrants from entering the country. The instances of illegal migration in the country are expected to drop given the increased surveillance and security at the border. 

Another executive order that came as a major blow to these immigrants’ dreams was when Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that the children born on US soil to undocumented immigrants will not be granted US citizenship. The order not only includes children born to undocumented immigrants but also the children of the legal immigrants or  people on student visas, which could negatively affect millions of people in the country. 

One of the biggest crackdowns that Trump has unleashed against illegal immigration is the suspension of processing of migrants and asylum seekers in the US. The executive order effectively grants permission to border patrol agents to turn away migrants without granting them asylum hearings. Before the order was passed, the migrants had the legal right to seek asylum in the US. 

The Trump administration's aggressive immigration policies mark a significant shift in the U.S. approach to handling illegal migration. With mass deportations, increased border security, and strict executive orders limiting migrants' rights, the new policies have sparked widespread controversy and criticism from immigration experts and human rights advocates. The shutdown of the CBP One app and the restriction on birthright citizenship further emphasize the administration's hardline stance against illegal immigration. As these measures take effect, they are expected to have far-reaching consequences for the American foreign policy and reshape US's relations with countries as many countries refused to take back the immigrants and showed resistance. The future of immigration under Trump's leadership remains uncertain, but it is clear that his administration is committed to reshaping the U.S. immigration landscape through stringent enforcement and legal barriers.