The use of executive actions, age-old laws, and ad campaigns take a carrot-and-stick approach to removing millions of illegal immigrants.
Self-deportation might begin to look more attractive to those in the country illegally as the Trump administration intensifies the pressure for them to leave.
On his first day in office, Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed 10 border-related executive actions to secure the border and deter illegal immigration while planning for mass deportations.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection encounters with illegal immigrants under Trump have plummeted from 81,528 in January to 28,654 in February, according to the latest number available.
In the first 50 days of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 32,809 enforcement arrests. That nearly equaled the total of 33,242 arrests for fiscal 2024. During Trump’s first month in office, 37,660 people were deported, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data first reported by Reuters.
One executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” set into motion a federal rule change that will help the administration account for an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants who entered the country under the Biden administration.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an internal rule change that went into effect on April 11, creating a registry for foreign nationals. Registration of noncitizens residing in the country is required by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.
The Alien Registration Act of 1940, also known as the Smith Act, generally requires all foreign nationals staying in the country beyond 30 days to apply to register and get fingerprinted, but it hasn’t always been enforced.
DHS’s registration requirement must be completed by those 14 or older if they didn’t do so in the past. Once registered and fingerprinted, DHS will issue evidence of registration, which foreign nationals “over the age of 18 must carry and keep in their personal possession at all times.”
Parents will need to register their children younger than 14, then re-register them when they turn 14.
A federal judge on April 10 ruled the Trump administration could move forward with a requirement that everyone in the United States illegally must register with the federal government and carry documentation.
