The Trump administration’s immigration policies have extended beyond targeting undocumented immigrants, implementing significant restrictions on legal immigration channels, including refugee programs designed to aid individuals displaced by violence and humanitarian crises.
Focus on Legal and Illegal Immigration
During his presidential campaign, former President Donald Trump emphasized a tough stance on illegal immigration. Since taking office, his administration enacted measures such as sealing the U.S. asylum system for individuals without proper documentation, deploying military resources for deportations, and broadening enforcement to include most unauthorized immigrants, even those without criminal records.
However, the administration has also quietly implemented policies that limit legal immigration, affecting refugees from crisis-stricken regions, such as Ukraine, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Venezuela.
Refugee Admissions Suspended
One of Mr. Trump’s first executive actions was to suspend the U.S. refugee admissions program indefinitely. Refugees, who undergo extensive vetting overseas to qualify for entry, have been denied entry unless the president determines their admission aligns with U.S. interests.
Unpublished State Department data obtained by CBS News indicates this suspension stranded over 22,000 refugees already approved for resettlement after an intensive vetting process lasting 18 to 24 months. Resettlement agencies assisting refugees in integrating into American communities were also directed to cease using federal funds, impacting services for refugees already in the U.S.
“Canceling flights for already approved refugees who have waited years as they’ve gone through extreme vetting betrays promises we made in creating this bipartisan legal program,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge. She described the U.S. refugee process as the “gold standard” in legal immigration.
Halting Immigration Processes for Specific Groups
The Trump administration also curtailed the use of parole, a policy granting temporary legal entry on humanitarian or public interest grounds. For instance, the Uniting for Ukraine program, which admitted approximately 240,000 Ukrainians during the Biden administration, has been halted. Additionally, the parole status of more than 70,000 Afghans evacuated after the fall of Kabul in 2021 is now under threat, potentially leaving them without legal status.
Programs designed to offer legal migration alternatives, such as sponsorship initiatives for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, have also been suspended. Other affected programs include an Obama-era policy allowing Central American youth to reunite with relatives in the U.S.
According to Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, the administration believes such policies were abused. “Biden used the parole authority as a means of essentially freelancing his own parallel immigration system outside the law, so that has to be restricted,” Krikorian said.
Additional Restrictions on Legal Migration
The Trump administration has further targeted legal immigration by shutting down Safe Mobility Offices established in Latin America under the Biden administration to vet and process migrants for resettlement programs in the U.S., Spain, and Canada. The administration also moved to restrict birthright citizenship, a policy currently halted by legal challenges, which would deny U.S. citizenship to children born to immigrants on temporary visas or those in the country illegally.
Other forthcoming measures include proposals for partial or complete immigration bans for countries deemed unable to provide adequate vetting for their citizens.
Impact on Refugees and Migrants
As the administration tightens legal pathways for migration, advocates argue that these restrictions undermine long-standing bipartisan programs and commitments.
“By halting refugee arrivals and scaling back critical programs, the administration risks reneging on the promises of protection and opportunity the U.S. has long stood for,” Vignarajah said.
The Trump administration maintains that its actions are essential to securing U.S. borders and preventing misuse of immigration programs. With the suspension of key pathways for legal immigration, the future of affected refugees and migrants remains uncertain.
