page_title: Immigration policy of Donald Trump
hierarchical_section_title: Immigration policy of Donald Trump
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo provided by Custom and Border Protection to reporter on tour of detention facility in McAllen, Texas. Reporters were not allowed to take their own photos
context_page_description: Immigration policy and, specifically, illegal immigration to the United States, was a signature issue of U.S. President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and his proposed reforms and remarks about this issue generated much publicity. Trump has repeatedly said that illegal immigrants are criminals and a 2015 study by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute had concluded that around 820,000 unauthorized immigrants had criminal records; Despite Trump never explicitly mentioning correlation, critics have argued that there is an increasing amount of evidence that immigration does not correlate with higher crime rates.
  A hallmark promise of his campaign was to build a substantial wall on the United States–Mexico border and to force Mexico to pay for the wall. Trump has also expressed support for a variety of "limits on legal immigration and guest-worker visas", including a "pause" on granting green cards, which Trump says will "allow record immigration levels to subside to more moderate historical averages". Trump's proposals regarding H-1B visas frequently changed throughout his presidential campaign, but as of late July 2016, he appeared to oppose the H-1B visa program.
context_section_description: Immigration policy and, specifically, illegal immigration to the United States, was a signature issue of U.S. President Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and his proposed reforms and remarks about this issue generated much publicity. Trump has repeatedly said that illegal immigrants are criminals and a 2015 study by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute had concluded that around 820,000 unauthorized immigrants had criminal records; Despite Trump never explicitly mentioning correlation, critics have argued that there is an increasing amount of evidence that immigration does not correlate with higher crime rates.
  A hallmark promise of his campaign was to build a substantial wall on the United States–Mexico border and to force Mexico to pay for the wall. Trump has also expressed support for a variety of "limits on legal immigration and guest-worker visas", including a "pause" on granting green cards, which Trump says will "allow record immigration levels to subside to more moderate historical averages". Trump's proposals regarding H-1B visas frequently changed throughout his presidential campaign, but as of late July 2016, he appeared to oppose the H-1B visa program.
  As president, Trump imposed a travel ban that prohibited issuing visas to citizens of seven largely-Muslim countries, expanded to thirteen in 2020. In response to legal challenges he revised the ban twice, with his third version being upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2018. He attempted to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but a legal injunction has allowed the policy to continue while the matter is the subject of legal challenge. He imposed a "zero tolerance" policy to require the arrest of anyone caught illegally crossing the border, which resulted in separating children from their families. Tim Cook and 58 other CEOs of major American companies warned of harm from Trump's immigration policy. The "zero tolerance" policy was reversed in June 2018, but multiple media reports of continued family separations were published in the first half of 2019.
  In his first State of the Union address on January 30, 2018, Trump outlined his administration's four pillars for immigration reform: (1) a path to citizenship for DREAMers; (2) increased border security funding; (3) ending the diversity visa lottery; and (4) restrictions on family-based immigration.  The Four Pillars reinforce Trump's campaign slogan to "Buy American, Hire American" and 2017 executive order by the same name, and tracks with previously outlined immigration policy priorities.
  Under pressure from the Trump Administration, Mexico and other Latin American countries strengthened their efforts to stop illegal immigration to the U.S.
caption: Children sitting within a wire mesh compartment in the Ursula detention facility in McAllen, Texas, June 2018
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