NOAH HOLT/Contributing writer
Reform means to change into an improved form or condition by amending or removing faults or abuses. Immigration reform would mean improving the current conditions specifically related to immigration in the United States. Newly elected President Donald Trump made immigration a key issue in his campaign, saying that he, “wants to better protect the U.S. from future dangers immigrants may cause or cost the country.”
Within the first week of his presidency, Trump’s administraion has begun work on his immigration plan. His first order of action was on Jan. 23, and it ordered Homeland Security to begin building a border wall between the United States and Mexico. On Jan. 27, Trump signed an executive order that would block all refugees from seven countries from entering the United States. It would also place restrictions on travel to the U.S. from certain Muslim countries.
This executive order will keep all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and will block them from “war-torn Syria” for an indefinite amount of time. Along with this order, Trump said he wants “extreme vetting” of incoming immigrants. This position means a more in-depth screening of people entering the U.S. through more “in-person interviews, searches of an expanded database of identity documents or longer application forms.”
As of Feb. 9, 2017, a panel of three judges in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block a federal court ruling that placed Donald Trump’s travel ban on hold. This means the ban will not be enforced until the case plays out in federal court. The Trump administration is currently assessing their legal options and could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
There is speculation about what President Trump will do with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is a program for young, undocumented immigrants that came to the U.S. as children. DACA gives undocumented youth protection from deportation and a work permit. DACA was a program started by President Obama in 2012, and more than 741,000 undocumented youth are benefitting from this program. As of right now, the world is unsure what the future holds for DACA under the Trump administration.
Will he discontinue it or keep it alive? No one is certain right now, but according to Fusion’s National Affairs Correspondent Jorge Rivas, if Trump kills the DACA program it could cost the U.S. billions of dollars because about 645,000 workers will lose their jobs. That would cost the economy $433.4 billion.
Trump’s immigration actions have caused significant controversy across the country with protests being held at airports and lawsuits being filed by organizations regarding the constitutionality of his orders. More than 125 years after the Chinese Exclusion Act was implemented, the nation is still grappling with exclusionary practices in immigration policy, and is likely to do so in the foreseeable future.
