Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States on January 20, 2025, with one of his key campaign promises being to crack down on 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., expanding the detention of apprehended migrants pending removal proceedings, 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 arrested, charged with, or convicted of certain crimes. In March 2025, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act.
Border encounters between migrants and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continued to decline since Trump took office in 2025; refugee admissions have also plummeted. The administration has also expanded its immigration detention and deportation operations. The overall strategy of the Trump administration, and the often maximalist tactics employed, primarily by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, have received widespread criticism, and protests have erupted across the country in response.
In 2025, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which appropriated $170 billion to immigration enforcement through 2029. In 2026, Congress passed and President Trump signed the Secure America Act which appropriated, through 2029, an additional $69.5 billion dollars.
Policies and presidential actions
Proclamation of "invasion" and broad restrictions 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.
On July 2, 2025, US district court judge Randolph D. Moss ruled the proclamation illegal, stating he failed to find any statute or Constitutional provision that gave the president the authority to "adopt an alternative immigration system, which supplants the statutes that Congress has enacted and the regulations that the responsible agencies have promulgated." On April 24, 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld Judge Moss's ruling blocking the proclamation. In her majority opinion, Judge Michelle Childs wrote that existing immigration law “does not allow the president to remove plaintiffs under summary removal procedures of his own making”.
Restricting admission and parole 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. This is followed by further actions to restrict admission and parole, primarily of asylum seekers.
Reinstating Migrant Protection Protocols First, Trump reinstated the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), 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.
Following the termination of the CBP One application, the administration introduced the CBP Home app, which included a new "Intent to Depart" feature. This feature served as the registration platform for "Project Homecoming," a voluntary departure program established by executive order in May 2025. The program offered unauthorized immigrants travel arrangements and a cash stipend in exchange for agreeing to leave the United States.
The stipend was initially set at $1,000, later increased to $2,600, and was briefly raised to $3,000 during the 2025 Christmas holiday. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), each self-deportation was projected to cost the government approximately $2,500, including the stipend, compared to an average of $18,245 for a non-voluntary removal. Based on internal data shared with Axios, as of July 16, 2026, approximately 132,000 individuals had departed through the program, with an additional 70,000 registered and awaiting departure. By the end of 2026, the program is projected to facilitate over 200,000 departures. Its budget was nearly $600 million, with funds expected to be exhausted by the end of August 2026; DHS is reportedly seeking a new contract to continue the initiative beyond that date.
The program also affected detention operations. A staff member from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) introduced Project Homecoming to ICE facilities, resulting in case managers being placed at 40 ICE detention sites. Approximately half of the self-deportation cases involved detained immigrants, for whom the average detention time decreased from 50 to 17 days, helping to free up bed space in detention centers. Critics argued that the program would have been better administered by the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), which was initially involved but later withdrew. One source familiar with the program expressed concern that the initiative had been reduced to a logistical exercise—described as a "spreadsheet to buy plane tickets"—with insufficient attention given to participants' post-departure outcomes.
Ending categorical parole programs
Lastly, the executive order also put an end to categorical parole programs. These programs, also known as "Temporary Protected Status", allowed migrants from certain countries to stay in the U.S. for a certain period, due to various reasons generally including armed conflict or natural disaster. Executive Order 14165 terminates these programs. 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.
On June 25, 2026, in Mullin v. Doe, the Supreme Court barred judicial review of temporary protected status.
Termination of Family Reunification Parole Processes A notice in the Federal Register states that DHS is terminating the Family Reunification Parole Processes programs as of December 15, 2025. If parole had not already expired by January 14, 2026, it terminated on that date.
Restricting refugee resettlement 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 (INA) 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 USCIS Director Joseph Edlow 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". In March 2026, the administration lifted its "total ban on reviewing asylum applications, though the pause remains in effect for about 40 countries." In June 2026, to comply with an order by Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, the administration announced it would end the hold.
The administration was reported to have moved to end thousands of asylum cases, arguing for asylum seekers to be deported to third countries.
Of the 4,499 people part of the Refugee Admissions Program from October 2025 to April 2026, 3 (Afghans) were not White South Africans.
White South African refugees
Expanding border control and security