The election is over and Donald J. Trump will be our 45th. President. The results of the election were a disappointment to many Americans; for other Americans the election results offer the prospect for changes which will “Make America Great Again.”
Immigration was one of the top issues in the campaign, with Candidate Trump calling for tighter control of the borders, “extreme vetting” of immigrants from Muslim countries, heightened enforcement, reductions in legal immigration and a slicing of America’s acceptance of refugees. The candidate’s positions on legal immigration and the treatment of the undocumented have caused a great deal of concern among advocates and proponents of fair immigration policies.
As President-elect Trump puts together his Cabinet and top appointees, many are asking: “What will this mean for the future of immigration?” Good question. Some things are known. For example, Sen. Jeff Sessions – a harsh anti-immigrant voice in the Senate – is being considered for Attorney General. Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach – the author of restrictionist legislation which has been denounced and defeated all over America – will also have a prominent position in the new administration. Others with similar views will undoubtedly join them.
These appointees and others will have an agenda. That agenda will be to roll back the Executive Actions implemented in the Obama Administration, to stop the implementation of regulations which benefit legal immigrants, to take away employment authorization, to increase workplace enforcement, to arrest and detain more immigrants and to tighten scrutiny of non-immigrants and others coming to the U.S. Such changes will have a significant impact, not just on the undocumented but on U.S. families, businesses and institutions that depend on predictability, fairness and consistency in immigration law.
For those anxious to understand what’s ahead, the clearest indications may come from a report issued in April 2016 by the Center for Immigration Studies. That report, entitled “A Pen and a Phone79 Immigration Actions the Next President Can Take” provides a roadmap – a wish list really – of actions that a new President could take unilaterally to restrict immigration. The Center for Immigration Studies is well-know for its anti-immigrant agenda and its views – and this report – are aligned with the goals of the new administration. For a preview of what may lie ahead, spend a few minutes with the CIS Report, available here. For questions about the future immigration law, stay tuned to this website.