President-elect Donald Trump’s tough stance against illegal immigration and pledge to enforce immigration laws is causing many families to worry about their future in the United States (US). This blog discusses some of the important changes Trump and his administration plan to make during his upcoming presidency.
Building a Wall and Deporting Illegal Immigrants
The goal of the Trump administration is to curb illegal immigration and secure the US borders. Trump wants to sharply curtail the flow of illegal immigration by promising to build a wall on America’s southern border and tripling the US’s existing “deportation force.” In terms of deporting illegal immigrants, Trump would prioritize individuals with criminal records and plans to immediately deport 2 to 3 million undocumented immigrants. In some ways, Trump’s proposal follows the Obama administration’s deportation efforts, which caused 2.4 million foreign nationals to be removed between fiscal years 2009 and 2014. This is the highest number of deportations a President brought about. Trump means to end “catch and release” policy, which means that anyone caught crossing the border illegally will be detained and subsequently deported. President Obama has been meaning to also terminate the “catch and release” policy, therefore, this action is not surprising.
Ending Sanctuary Cities
Trump plans to defund and end “sanctuary cities” and encourage the cooperation between local law enforcement and federal authorities. Trump would use the federal government to discourage cities from enacting policies that protect undocumented immigrants and instead, force local law enforcement officers to cooperate and alert federal authorities of criminal foreign nationals that are in the US undocumented. The federal government will cease to provide protection and any financial aid to cities that refuse to cooperate. This shift in policy will likely cause a conundrum for local police authorities that rely upon the immigrant community’s information to stop criminal activities in their communities. Therefore, this issue remains to be determined.
Making It Difficult to Remain in the US Undocumented
The Trump administration would make it harder, if not impossible, for undocumented immigrants to live and work in the US by enhancing the E-Verify system and pushing all US employers to check the legal status of their employees. Trump also plans to have Immigration Customs Enforcement to conduct more raids on factories and construction sites. This may cause about 8 million of unauthorized workers to be out of jobs causing millions of families to be without income and unable to support themselves.
The Possible End of DACA
Trump further stated his intention to terminate and recall Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The DACA program gives protection from deportation and allows foreign nationals to apply for an employment authorization document. DACA’s recipients amount to about 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children. Trump may cancel this program as early as January, shortly after he takes office. These immigrants will loose jobs and scholarships that allowed many to attend college and start careers, thus rendering them vulnerable to deportation. Additionally, the awaited Deferred Actions for Parents Arrivals (DAPA), which Obama tried to enact through Executive Action will not become a reality. Pursuant to DAPA undocumented parents of US Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents would be allowed to stay in the country and obtain an employment authorization document on a temporary basis.
Disfavoring H-IB Visas
During his campaign Trump indicated that he would put an end to the H-1B Work Visas for Professionals. This is because he erroneously believes that foreign workers are taking jobs away from poor and working class Americans. Trump wants to raise the prevailing wage for H-1B visas to force American companies to give entry-level jobs to US workers. Trump did not consider that the current prevailing wages already pose a strong barrier. He talked about adding a recruitment requirement to find American workers before hiring foreign ones. It is important to note that the law already poses recruitment requirement for all Employment based Green Card applications. In the same breath Trump declared that he supports visas for bringing in talent from out of the country as long as the program complies with US laws. We wonder whether Trump realizes that the current H-1B program facilitates this scope.
What Can You Do
Trump will not become President until January 20, 2017. Some of you may have a path to legal status and we urge you to apply for relief now before Trump makes more stringent immigration policies and eliminates existing programs.