One Year of the Trump Administration: Some of the Major Changes We’ve Seen in Immigration

One of the first executive orders that President Trump immediately signed was intended to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants and temporary U.S. residents. The order cited a new interpretation of the 14^th Amendment, which states that individuals born in the United States shall be citizens. 

This was met with a 14-day temporary restraining order on January 23 from U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour. Shortly after, Judge Deborah L. Boardman of the Maryland Federal District Court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction – more durable and expansive than the previous restraining order – and set to stay in place unless a higher court overturns it. 

In December 2025, the Supreme Court agreed to hear President Trump’s challenge of the 14^th Amendment, with an expected decision to be released in Summer 2026. This decision could have far-reaching consequences for millions of foreign nationals living in the United States.  

The Trump Administration began targeting migrants staying in the U.S. under Temporary Protection Status (TPS), an initiative that allows migrants from specified countries that are experiencing ongoing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other extraordinary conditions to live and work in the U.S. while there are dangers in their home country.  

In early February, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Venezuela no longer met the qualifications for TPS and began terminating this status. This affected over 500,000 Venezuelans, some of whom had protective status since 2010. On May 19, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump Administration to move forward with the temporary termination of the status of Venezuelan nationals. Shortly after, in late February, DHS began targeting Haitians, which would bring the number of individuals affected to over 1 million. 

We are closely following the Trump Administration’s moves to terminate or termination of TPS for many other countries, including Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Honduras, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Burma, and Ethiopia.  

On February 19, an executive order was signed with the intention of eliminating all federally funded benefits for undocumented migrants. At the time, it was unclear which programs were to be affected. 

Apart from emergency situations, undocumented migrants are largely ineligible for federal benefits, including Social Security, which is deducted from all paychecks regardless of citizenship status. In 2024, economists estimated that undocumented immigrants have contributed tens of billions of dollars to a benefit they are ineligible for. 

In late July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its policy to block many groups of foreign nationals from receiving SNAP, including refugees, asylum recipients, humanitarian parolees, and individuals whose deportation has been withheld. On October 31, restrictions were expanded to permanently exclude these groups, even after they obtained legal peraneant resident status. 

Twenty state attorney generals and Washington, D.C. quickly filed a suit, stating that the policy was implemented without warning, will cut off vulnerable families, and could impose financial penalties on states that fail to comply. 

Originally signed into law in 1798 with the intention of use only during wartime, the Alien Enemies Act states that “whenever there shall be a declared war […] or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted, or threatened” against the U.S. all “subjects of the hostile nation or government” could be “apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies”.  

President Trump invoked the Act in March and began deportations primarily targeting Venezuelans alleged to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang. The U.S. government paid $6 million for the detention of over 200 deported immigrants at an El Salvadorian supermax prison, which is notorious for being overcrowded with conditions describes as “harsh and life-threatening.” The identities, details of alleged crimes, and affiliation status have not been released for any detainees. 

This act has only been invoked three times previously: during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an order blocking the deportations just hours after the Act was invoked. The White House has argued the block has “no lawful basis”. Many advocates raised concerns that invoking the Act will open the door for targeted deportations regardless of criminal status or record and pushes the U.S. closer to a constitutional crisis. 

Since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, the U.S. government has enforced immigration laws through worksite enforcement, including audits, criminal investigations, and large-scale raids conducted by ICE. Across both presidential terms, the Trump Administration has prioritized large-scale raids and arrests as a core component of its interior immigration enforcement strategy.  

In President Trump’s second term, ICE has expanded collaboration with a broad range of federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, including agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and various state police departments. 

With the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill in July, ICE received $75 billion spread over the course of four years, including $29.9 billion for enforcement and another $5 billion for detention. This allocation allowed ICE to continue, and even expand, operations throughout the 2025 government shutdown. 

On September 17, USCIS announced changes to the citizen test with rollout to begin on October 20. Previously, applicants were required to answer 6 of 10 questions correctly from a random bank of 100. With the updated 2025 Naturalization Civics test, applicants will need to answer 12 of 20 questions correctly, selected from a random bank of 128. The bank of 128 is made up of questions pulled from the 2008 and 2020 tests.

Applicants who are over 65 and have been a legal permanent resident for at least 20 years will take a modified version of the test, with 10 questions selected from a bank of 20, chosen from the 2008 and 2020 tests.

On September 19, President Trump issued a proclamation restricting the entry of anyone seeking to enter or reenter the U.S. in H-1B status without paying a new $100,000 fee. The previous fee ranged between $2,000 and $5,000. 

USCIS stated that the fee is applicable to H-1B petitioners filed on or after September 21, 2025, specifically for beneficiaries outside of the U.S. who do not already hold a valid H-1B visa and petitions requesting consular or port-of-entry notifications (meaning the worker will apply for an H-1B visa abroad and enter the U.S. in H-1B status). 

Two lawsuits have been filed surrounding the fee, first on October 3 from the Northern District of California, which argues that the new fee exceeds presidential authority and was implemented without proper legal or regulatory procedure. Another followed on October 16 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This suit argues that Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act does not authorize the President to impose new financial conditions on entry into the U.S. The complaint contends that the proclamation unlawfully overrides congressional rules governing visa fees and that the fee was enacted without the required notice-and-comment process, making it “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act. 

Many industries are facing severe or even critical strains because of new expenses, including healthcare, teaching, and technology. 

USCIS issued an interim final rule on October 30 ending the automatic extension for work permit renewals. This policy allowed immigrants to continue working in the U.S. while waiting for their renewal decision – which had recently been upped to 540 days during the Biden Administration. 

Given that work permit processing times often exceed six months, the immediate termination of this policy could result in thousands of workers losing their jobs due to administrative delays. Currently, over 54% of all work permit applications take more than 180 days to process, and renewal cases represent nearly half of all filings. Immigrants in vulnerable categories – such as asylum seekers, TPS recipients, spouses of H-1B holders, and treaty investors – are expected to be hit hardest. 

In December 2025, USCIS has introduced Form I-140G, a new immigration petition associated with what is commonly referred to as the “Trump Gold Card” program. This initiative establishes a new way to U.S. permanent residency based on an applicant’s ability to provide a substantial benefit to the United States, rather than fitting within traditional immigrant visa categories.

Potential applicants for the “Gold Card” must register and pay a $15,000 nonrefundable processing fee. Upon successful registration, those qualified will be put through an intense vetting process. Once the applicant passes the vetting process, a significant financial contribution of one million dollars to the United States Department of Commerce must be made. If a company is applying on behalf of an employee, a two-million-dollar gift will be required.

In December 2025, USCIS issued internal guidance directing that USCIS field officers refer 100–200 denaturalization cases per month to the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) with – a drastic escalation in the government’s use of denaturalization as an enforcement tool. By comparison, from 2017 through December 2025, the federal government filed just over 120 denaturalization cases total. This internal direction was reportedly embedded within the 2026 USCIS priorities, which took effect with the start of the federal fiscal year in October 2025.

Under federal law, denaturalization is not meant to function as a discretionary penalty or a broad-based enforcement mechanism. The primary pathway for denaturalization is narrow: it applies where the government alleges that a person obtained citizenship unlawfully, most commonly by fraud or material misrepresentation in the naturalization process. Examples include concealing disqualifying criminal conduct, lying about identity, or withholding facts that would have altered the adjudication of the citizenship application.