Donald Trump will remain in office for the next 49 days, and he is not backing down from one of his administration’s central issues since the 2016 election: immigration. Since Election Day this year, Trump’s team, headed by Stephen Miller—the architect of many of his most controversial immigration policies—has been working on a final push to limit immigration to the United States. President-elect Joe Biden, on the other hand, has declared that during his first 100 days in office, beginning on January 20th, 2021, he plans to send an immigration bill to Congress. How Trump’s 11th hour attempts to solidify his legacy will play out, and affect Biden’s plans, is yet to be seen.
Although the current President is yet to concede the election to President-elect Biden, his team has been pushing through changes to the immigration system since Election Day. According to people familiar with the discussion, even the idea of ending birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants has been floated, and allegedly dismissed. Other measures, however, have already been taken.
For starters, the administration has announced that starting next month, the citizenship test will include more questions about American politics and history. The change has brought the citizenship questionnaire from 100 to 128 questions. Additionally, the administration announced updates to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Policy Manual that will give federal officials more discretion in approving or rejecting applications. The guidelines provide officers an extended list of positive and negative factors—like the strength of family ties, history of employment and community standing, for example—to consider in their review of applicants. Immigrant advocates have pointed out that these changes are likely to lead to longer processing times and additional rejections.
The administration has also proposed limiting work permits for immigrants awaiting deportation, further restrictions on the H-1B high-skilled worker visa program, and continued challenges to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump unsuccessfully attempted to end earlier in his tenure.
In an interview with NBC last week, President-elect Biden previewed his administration’s agenda for the first 100 days, and immigration policy is front and center. “I made a commitment, in the first 100 days, I will send an immigration bill to the United States Senate with a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people in America,” Biden said.
Attempts to overhaul the immigration system have been made by Congress before, unsuccessfully. And executive actions, like President Obama’s DACA program, are likely to be met with some legal challenges. Further complicating the task at hand is the Trump administration’s latest measures, which are meant to put a bind on Biden’s plans and make it more difficult for him to reverse course on the politically charged issue. The two Senate runoff races taking place in Georgia in January—which could deliver Democrats control of the Senate—will play a crucial role in defining the future of immigration policy.