The last four years have been a hiccup for the immigrants moving to the United State. A country that worked for decades to improve its immigration policies and come out as a place for family reunification, the safe harbor of refugees, and an asylum became an inhospitable place for all immigrants.
Racism, division of ethnic groups, sexism, and all sorts of prejudice uproar during the Trump rule because of the strict immigration policies imposed by the president which were enacted via executive action and the existing laws and not through the regular congressional approval.
The last four years have been fearful for the minorities, especially Muslims, Latinos, and blacks in a country that calls itself a free country. As per Immigrant Stories racism in America has always been at its peak. Whether you are standing in a coffee shop or taking a lecture in one of the world-renowned universities, verbal and physical bullying is something that is treated as a norm, therefore authorities fail to acknowledge them which leads to no change in the community, making it worse for immigrants and residents alike!
But the major question here is, how did the immigration laws imposed by the former president impact the immigrants, their families, and their mental and physical health. To understand the depth of the situation, one needs to understand the policies set in place.
Going back, the key focus of Trump’s immigration policies was to only provide immigration status to individuals offering skill and metric to the country. Basically, to sum them all, here is the list of areas that highlight the policies and their impact on the immigrants.
Restrict Legal Immigration
On Aug.12, 2019, the Trump's administration set in place strict legal standards for green card and nonimmigrant visa applicants. According to the rule, visa holders who used public benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid, and housing aids would not receive their desired immigration status in the coming years.
Furthermore, with the initiation of face-to-face interviews, it became more difficult and daunting for non-English speakers to secure employment in the country. Also, to limit the number of immigrants, with the aim to focus more on the well-being of the residents of the country, only 462,422 immigrant visas and 186,584 relative visas were issued during 2019, which is a major drop as compared to 517,752 immigrants visa and 315,352 relative visas issued in 2016.
This impacted families the most as it became more like a competition between family members. Visa holders weren’t allowed to request a visa for their relatives anymore and foreigners looking for job opportunities had to look elsewhere for their livelihood.
Complete the Border Wall With Mexico
An action that destroyed and divided thousands of families, took children away from their parents, and left them caged in holes they didn’t belong in. Initially, the project for building the wall on the 1,954 mile U.S. border with Mexico began back in 1996, but up till Trumps’ rule, only a portion of it was built to minimize the number of illegal immigrants in the country.
In 2019, Trump declared a national emergency to collect around $15 billion to $25 billion to complete the wall and enhance the segments of the existing wall. To some extent, many did agree to the idea but the money could definitely be spent otherwise to enhance the quality of life, education, or inter-relations between the two countries.
Reduce the Number of Asylum Seekers
According to the1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, any foreigner who arrives on US soil has the right to apply for asylum. Trump along with its legislation tried many tactics to limit the number of asylum seekers by limiting the points of entry, separating children from their families, and deporting individuals without documentation back to their respective countries.
It left many helpless, especially the Latinx immigration from Mexico who were looking for a new home in a free-country to support their families and friends. The impact of racial discrimination and the rule of white supremacy blended well to create inhospitable living conditions for immigrations seeking asylum.
Stop Immigrants From Receiving Welfare
To make living conditions more hostile for the immigrants, Trump imposed policies that prevented immigrants from receiving any kind of public welfare in the first five years of their stay in the country. Most states did not allow health care treatments, children's health insurance programs, and other types of welfare, making it financially unfit for the immigrants to reside in the country.
End DACA
On Sept. 5, 2017, Trump announced a wind-down of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) which was launched by President Obama to provide an opportunity to the undocumented immigrants who were brought to the states as children.
According to Trumps’ suggested policy, the legal restrictions for immigration were to be enhanced and the undocumented individuals had to go through a 10-12 year path to citizenship. It definitely added a ton of fear among the immigrants, especially teenagers and the ones in their early twenties which lead to serious mental health issues.
Travel Ban
Not stopping there, the president suggested a travel ban, restricting immigrants from seven different Muslim countries to enter the States or become a refugee. The order was issued thrice by the president but was banned by the Supreme Court every time.
Yet, later on, the travel ban was approved by the court in December 2017 which led the president to ban six more additional countries in January 2020. Although the litigating continued by the ban was legalized ultimately.
President Trump’s immigration policies have both restricted legal and illegal immigration. Whether they are good or bad, depends entirely on the race, ethnic group, and nationality that you belong to.
For outsiders, they seem more like an open cage, ready to engulf them as they set foot in the country, that too if they are permitted to do so. In short, these policies have left a hefty dent in the immigration system of the country and have given birth to more discrimination in the country. Thus, it is clear that the policies need comprehensive reform and we are going to have Biden alongside his congress play the role in uplifting them once again.
