# Immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration

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The immigration policy of the second Donald Trump administration encompasses the established immigration policies implemented by Donald Trump during his second term as president of the United States.

## History

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the United States for a second term. Within an hour, CBP One, a program developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to allow migrants to secure immigration appointments, was discontinued; migrants who accessed CBP One found that their appointments were canceled. That evening, he signed several executive orders relating to immigration, including blocking asylum seekers from entering the U.S., declaring a national emergency at the Mexico–U.S. border, and citing a public health risk posed by migrants through a lack of "comprehensive health information".
Trump also signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for children of unauthorized immigrants as well as immigrants legally but temporarily present in the United States. At least nine lawsuits have been filed challenged the order on constitutional grounds, and as of February 2025, two federal judges have issued preliminary injunctions blocking its implementation and enforcement nationwide.

## Policy
### Illegal immigration
#### Designation of cartels

In an executive order, Trump directed the United States Department of State to designate the gangs Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as terrorist organizations, permitting the federal government to block their assets and disrupt their financial support network through Executive Order 13224, a directive that amends the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to include foreign entities involved with terrorism; the government was already authorized to impose economic sanctions on gangs. The designations allow the Department of Justice to indict individuals involved with gangs, such as drug dealers, with providing material support for terrorism, a charge that carries life imprisonment if the crime results in death.

#### Laken Riley Act

On January 29 2025, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law, the first legislation of Trump’s second term. The act enables the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain immigrants without legal status who are involved in certain kinds of crimes, and enables states to sue DHS if it allegedly fails to enforce immigration laws.

#### Mass deportation of illegal immigrants

Impact on Historically Underrepresented Populations
The policies during this times Trump administration greatly affected historically underrepresented populations, particularly immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Increased enforcement actions led to an increase in deportations, breaking up communities and families. Policies such as the "Remain in Mexico" initiative forced asylum seekers to wait in perilous conditions, exposing them to violence. Moreover, changes to public charge rules deterred low-income immigrants from accessing public benefits, even when eligible, due to worries of jeopardizing their current immigration status. These laws and measures aided to a magnitude of uncertainty and fear among immigrants and their communities.

#### Use of Guantanamo Bay

On January 29, 2025, Trump ordered the preparation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to house tens of thousands of migrants.
Within a month, hundreds of migrants had been transferred to Guantanamo. Most of them were swiftly transferred elsewhere, including 177 Venezuelans who arrived in Venezuela on February 20 after having been held at Guantanamo.

#### Use of El Salvador

The Trump administration has a deal with the Nayib Bukele administration of El Salvador to use El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) at a cost of $6 million per year. In March 2025, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and deported around 250 people, alleged by the Trump administration to be members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, to El Salvador, where they were imprisoned in CECOT. At the time of the deportations, the Trump administration did not identify the accused and did not reveal evidence of the accused being Venezuelan gang members or having committed crimes in the United States.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward sued the Trump administration, challenging the legality of using the Alien Enemies Act when the country is not at war. The administration used two planes to deport the accused, despite Chief Judge James Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issuing a temporary restraining order against deporting foreigners using the act. Boasberg also verbally ordered planes containing such foreigners to return to the United States. Trump border czar Tom Homan said that the Trump administration completed the deportations despite the court order, because Boasberg's order was made when the planes were above international waters after departing the United States; Homan also declared regarding deportations: "Another flight every day. [...] We are not stopping. I don't care what the judges think." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Boasberg's order "had no lawful basis [...] A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier". Leavitt also expressed doubts about "whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a written order", while the Trump administration argued in court that "an oral directive is not enforceable as an injunction".

### Legal immigration

A Trump Gold Card is a planned residency permit that provides investors with a path to residency and citizenship if they commit at least $5 million to projects in the US. A key difference from the EB5 program, the United States' current path for investors to gain residency that the Gold Card intends to replace, is that gold card holders are not liable for US federal income tax on income earned outside the US. Aside from constitutional questions on executive authority for this kind of change to immigration and tax law without express Congressional approval, it is unclear what would happen to the US federal taxability of a gold card holder's non-US income, should the gold card holder become a US citizen at some point in time.