How Trump's Immigration Policy Is Taking Shape
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I'm Ximena Bustillo, and I cover immigration policy. And I'm Mara Liason, senior national political correspondent.
And today on the show, we take a look at how President Trump's immigration policies are developing so far. Jimena, you've been all over this beat. Immigration, as you know, has always been a major focus for Trump, and it was a really big focus of the 2024 campaign. What's happened so far?
What recent immigration actions has Trump taken?
Well, Trump kicked off his second term by immediately signing a slew of executive actions aimed at limiting both illegal and legal migration. And this included stopping pathways to seek refugee or asylum status and bolstering the different government resources to arrest, detain and deport people. Since, there has been a steady stream of many memos, increased agencies that have been tapped into help, such as the military, the IRS, the Justice Department, and increased pressure on the Department of Homeland Security, which is the core agency here, to make more arrests and detentions and deportations. The administration has also really heavily promoted every step of the way from posting on social media about, you know, worksite or street arrests and some of these interagency partnerships, bringing news reporters along on raids and trainings with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
You know, the numbers in terms of results are a little tricky, but on the ground, you know, there is this feeling of pressure and concern and even support over these policies so far. You know, split by party respondents of a recent NPR Ipsos poll last month were divided on whether they supported some of the White House more dramatic moves like attempting to end birthright citizenship and detaining migrants at Guantanamo Bay.
Are Trump's immigration policies effective?
Now, Trump said in his address to Congress last night, speaking of numbers, that his administration, quote, has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history. Is that true?
Well, it's too early to know just how much he's going to be able to do over the next four years. And other presidents have had large deportation priorities before. Former President Barack Obama's administration, for example, deported over 3 million people. But that is much lower than the 11 million people that Trump and his advisers have referenced. And this second administration's own efforts face a lot of the issues that they face the first time, like logistical and capacity challenges.
You know, Mara, is this a situation where the optics of taking some kind of action, whatever it is, will matter more for Trump supporters than whether or not he actually literally delivers on all of his campaign promises for immigration?
No, I think that the optics are more important. I think that that's going to matter more politically than whether he actually hits a numerical target. If he just... deports people who are in the United States without legal status, I think that will continue to be popular. But if he starts taking away legal status from big groups of immigrants who are in this country, like Haitians or Venezuelans who've been protected by TPS, temporary protected status, that might be different. And remember, the reason why we have an illegal immigration problem in the United States is because we have a labor shortage in the United States.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the NPR Politics Podcast about?
0:01–1:25
2
What recent immigration actions has Trump taken?
1:25–2:51
3
Are Trump's immigration policies effective?
2:51–4:41
4
How might Trump's immigration policies impact the economy?
4:41–7:56
5
What is the status of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under Trump's policy?
7:56–11:09
6
Is mass deportation logistically possible?
11:09–13:11
7
What types of immigration does Trump support?
13:11–17:45