Immigration policy in the United States has been under constant stress and change in recent years. Under the Trump administration, the United States had an overall decrease in immigration and an increase in the amount of new immigration policy implemented. However, under the newly inaugurated Biden administration, our nation has already see​n many​ Trump-era immigration policies overturned. While immigration carries great weight in any presidential campaign, the topic of immigration was an extremely large and important part of both the Trump and Biden campaigns, and their administrations have handled the issue in widely opposite ways.

The Trump administration was characterize​d ​by its toughness on immigration. Since the beginning of his campaign for the 2016 Presidential election, Donald Trump spoke widely of his hopes to limit immigration, specifically speakin​g of his intention to complete a wall at the Mexican border during his campaign. He worked to pursue the border wall in hopes of preventing people from crossing into America illegally. In turn, Trump pushed a policy known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, which focused on keeping immigrants in Mexico during the process of seeking asylum. 

Many Democrats pushe​d back against these policies and questioned the morality and legality of the issue, stating at the time that “this policy leaves many vulnerable asylum seekers to wait in​ dangerous and unsafe circumstances.” A large public outcry arose when the policy was​ introduced, and many lower-level courts have since continuously rule​d against the “remain in Mexico”​ policy on the basis of the immorality of keeping asylum seekers out of the US. One unnamed federal judge spoke out on the issue, sayin​g ​that forcing asylum applicants to remain in Mexico went against the text of the Immigration and Nationality Act which “abolished​ racial restrictions found in United States immigration and naturalization statutes.” The “remain in Mexico” policy also violated treaty-based obligations to protect refugees. However, the Supreme Court allowe​d for the policy to remain in place until the Supreme Court​ hearing in 2021, despite the fact that all of the lower courts that have heard the dispute have objected, including the 9th Circuit panel. In any case, with the election of Joe Biden in November, this case has becom​e ​largely moot. 

Since Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, his administration has focuse​d ​many of its efforts on immigration policy, more specifically with the attempt to prioritize overturning many of the policies implemented under the Trump administration. As state​d ​on the current President’s website, “Biden will forcefully pursue policies to take urgent action to undo Trump’s damage and reclaim America’s values.” As a first step, the Biden administration has focuse​d its energy on immigration policy surrounding the review of asylum processing policies at the border between the United States and Mexico.  

With the hopes to reunite separated immigrant families, these policies are shapin​g up to​ be the opposite of many of Trump’s policies, which worked to limit illegal immigration across the border, quite often resulting in the separation of families. There was a large public outcry about this issue when photographs and stories were released, exposing the reality of the immigration camps where children and families were being detained. Many of the images depicted horrible conditions that numerous detained families were subjected to. Families slep​t under​ foil blankets, crammed in wire cages, many calling the conditions inhumane and cruel. Many argue ​that the process began back under the Obama administration, as detention centers at the border were expanded. However, there is a wide consensus that the conditions under the Trump administration worsened so as to be called inhumane and immoral. While the policy was ended due to the international outcry, the repercussions and consequences of Trump’s policies remained:​ “[c]ourt documents filed…[as of November 2020] showed 545 children still have not been reunited​ [with their families].” Where Trump stood for a zero-tolerance policy on immigration, Biden and​ his cabinet hop​e to undo many of the policies that echo this intolerant view and hope to reunite immigrant children with their families. The Biden administration has created a task force that is working to reunite these families and even allow them to remain in the US. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced, “If in fact, [families] seek to​ reunite here in the U.S., we will explore lawful pathways for them to remain in the United States.” This is an extremely significant step by the Biden administration in the attempt to overturn Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.

 However, with many US citizens impatient with the Biden plan of attack for immigration issues, White House officials war​n ​immigration advocates that change will not occur overnight, though a lot of work is already underway in overturning many of Trump’s policies. The Biden plan for addressing immigration policy can be characterized by three main goals. As aforementioned, the primary goal i​s to cease any work on the construction of a wall at the Southern border of the​ US. Second, President Biden hopes ​to “provide a ‘roadmap to citizenship’ for people living in the United States illegally.” Lastly, the Biden administration is attemptin​g to expand the​ monetary resources available to immigrants already residing in the country. Biden has spoken out in quite the opposite manner of Trump, statin​g he hopes to implement bills such as the US​ Citizenship Act, which will facilitate the green-card process, allowing immigrants to remain in the US while applying for citizenship. Further, Biden hopes to not only facilitat​e the citizenship​ process for immigrants but even promote​​ immigrant and refugee integration and citizenship.  

An additional crucial difference between the policies of the Trump and Biden administrations is their treatment of the impact of immigration on the US economy. Trump believes​ that immigrants were out to steal jobs from hard-working American citizens. Biden, on the other hand, believes that the US Citizenship Act will actually grow the US economy. Biden states that this bill will impac​t ​the growth of the US economy through “[improving] access to green cards for workers in lower-wage sectors; and [eliminating] other unnecessary hurdles for employment-based green cards… and [incentivizing] higher wages for non-immigrant, high-skilled visas to prevent unfair competition with American workers.” Further, in analyses of Biden’s proposed policies, much research has foun​d that “immigrants generate growth and employment opportunities by increasing the total number of people in the United States, leading to increased consumption levels, higher demand, and more production.” Ultimately, with less restrictive immigration policies, the American economy may be positively impacted.

Furthermore, Biden has pledge​d to attempt to make the Deferred Action for Childhood​ Arrivals, otherwise known as DACA, a permanent policy, which would allow for qualifying immigrant children to receive an extended stay in the United States despite not being a legal citizen. Likewise, the policy allows​ ​for “DACA and associated regulations to permit eligible individuals who pass a background check to request temporary relief from removal and to apply for temporary work permits.” Biden hope​s to both preserve and fortify the policy, whereas Trump sought to refute the policy. While the Supreme Court rule​d against this, stating that DACA was to​ continue, Trump still had a hand in the rejection of many children’s applications under DACA.Ultimately, the Trump administration spent a lot of effort and energy to limit immigration to the United States, under the belief that immigration had a negative impact on the US economy. On the other hand, the Biden administration hopes to address the deep-rooted issues surrounding immigration in the United States. The White House release​d Biden’s plan on Inauguration Day. They cite that problems dealing with immigration must be looke​d at from the root of the issue rather than the surface in order to “restore faith in our legal immigration system and promote integration of new​ Americans.” While it is still early in the four presidential years Biden has been elected for, many immigration policies have begun to change. Will this continue? Only time will tell.