Dynamic Higher Education Thesis

MTSL 304 Immigrant & refugee perspectives post-election

XX/XX/20XX

In groups, consider what you have learned from class lectures, guest speakers, and course materials and discuss three ways refugees and immigrants could possibly be impacted by a second Trump administration.

major concerns

• u.s. Refugee resettlement program
• humanitarian parole & other temporary protection programs
• mass deportation
• Deferred action for childhood arrivals (daca)
• international student admissions & optional practical training (OPT)

05

Trump's First Term

• When Trump entered office, the target had been set at 110,000 by the outgoing Obama administration; by FY 2021, it had been slashed to 15,000.
• The Trump administration suspended all refugee travel to the United States from June-October 2017 and then limited refugee admissions from some predominantly Muslim countries.
• Implemented “extreme vetting” of refugee applicants.
• From FY 2017 to May 2020, 134 affiliate offices (e.g., IRC, World Relief, Catholic Charities) around the United States closed.

uncertain future

• The President-elect has indicated that he will halt the refugee resettlement program on day 1 of his administration.

Trump's First Term

• Trump attempted to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, El Salvador, Nepal and Honduras.Courts prevented his plans from going into effect.

uncertain future

• Trump has indicated that he would also end all temporary protections programs, including humanitarian parole, on his first day in office.
• As of 2021, there were more than 1 million immigrants with temporary protections.
• Given Trump’s campaign rhetoric, his administration may target the more than 200,000 Haitians living in the United States with TPS and the 344,355 Venezuelans approved for TPS.
• According to DHS, there are 651,000 Ukrainians with humanitarian parole in the United States: 221,000 via Uniting for Ukraine and an additional 430,000 other Ukrainians.

Trump's First Term

• Trump ran a campaign focused on anti-Meixcan, anti-immigrant rhetoric.
• In 2018, his administration enforced a “zero tolerance” immigration policy, resulting in family separation and child detainment.

uncertain future

• Trump has announced plans for mass deportations.
• The president-elect named Thomas D. Homan as his “Border czar” to the police and to control the borders. Homan has discussed starting workplace raids.
• 1 in 15 families are of mixed status.
• The American Immigration Council found that it would cost $968 billion to remove the nearly 13 million immigrants in the country without authorization over the next ten years.

Trump's First Term

• In 2017, Trump attempted to terminate the DACA program, resulting in years of court battles.
• In 2020, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision finding the Trump administration's termination of DACA was unlawful.

Uncertain Future

• It is clear from the Supreme Court’s opinion that it is within the Trump administration’s power to decide to terminate DACA again.
• Trump will likely limit DACA renewals and/or pause applications if not full out terminate the program.
• According to DHS, there are 535,030 DACA recipients in the United States as of June 30, 2024.

• Trump officials could enact a broader ban on Chinese students in a second term.
• Trump has indicated that he will restrict or terminate OPT (optional practical training). At a minimum, they could burden OPT with requirements that discourage or prevent international students from working in the U.S.

trump's first term

• Visa process got harder, with processing times going up, longer security checks and many more questions.
• Restricted the entry of many Chinese graduate students, exchange visitors, and researchers

uncertain future

National Immigration Project. October 2015. Status of Keeping Families Together Parole Process, Possible Outcomes of the Ongoing Lawsuit, and Risks of Applying. https://nipnlg.org/work/resources/status-keeping-families-together-parole-process-possible-outcomes-ongoing-lawsuit

National Immigration Law Center. June 2020. Supreme Court Overturns Trump Administration's Termination of DACA. https://www.nilc.org/articles/supreme-court-overturns-trump-administrations-termination-of-daca/

Migration Policy Institute. How the Rebuilt U.S. System Resettled the Most Refugees in 30 Years. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/rebuilt-us-refugee-resettlement-biden

Migration Policy Institute. U.S. Annual Refugee Resettlement Ceilings and Number of Refugees Admitted, 1980-Present. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/us-refugee-resettlement

Center for Migration Studies. Proposed 2024 Mass Deportation Program Would Socially and Economically Devastate American Families. https://cmsny.org/publications/2024-mass-deportation-program-devastate-american-families-101024/#:~:text=As%20a%20reminder%2C%20there%20are,households%20containing%20only%20undocumented%20persons.

Council on Foreign Relations. March 2024. How Does the U.S. Refugee System Work? https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-does-us-refugee-system-work-trump-biden-afghanistan

National Foundation for American Policy. October 2024. Policy Brief: 2.7 Million People Could Lose TPS, DACA, and Humanitarian Parole. https://nfap.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/TPS-And-Humanitarian-Parole-Numbers.NFAP-Policy-Brief.2024.pdf

Ways to get involved/to help:

Interactivity is the key to capturing the interest and attention of your class. A genially is interactive because your students explore and engage with it.

Tip: