{"id":831,"date":"2021-04-27T10:05:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T10:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biden-power-map.test\/?post_type=topic&p=831"},"modified":"2021-08-20T22:05:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-20T22:05:14","slug":"immigration-asylum","status":"publish","type":"topic","link":"https:\/\/biden-agenda.foreignpolicy.com\/topic\/immigration-asylum\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration & Asylum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Immigration policy is one of the most divisive topics domestically and was a key pillar in both President Biden\u2019s and former President Trump\u2019s campaign platforms. The immigration debate can be divided broadly into issues surrounding legal and illegal immigration into the U.S., and the migration of asylum seekers fleeing unstable regions in hopes of being admitted into the U.S. as refugees. (\u201cRefugee\u201d is a legal designation granting people who are fleeing persecution in their home countries the right to international protection once their applications for asylum have been approved.) The Biden administration enters office promising to reverse course on the previous administration\u2019s most restrictive immigration policies and has been doing so predominantly through executive order\u2014following a Trump administration that signed over 400 executive orders<\/a> on immigration. As of August 2021, Biden has taken 16 executive actions<\/a> (including signing 13 executive orders) on immigration policy, the majority of which directly reverse<\/a> Trump administration policies\u2014including ending funding the Mexico border wall, preserving the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), establishing a family reunification task force, and ending entry bans<\/a> enacted on a range of countries predominantly in the Middle East and Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to deter the arrival of new immigrants and refugees, the Trump administration enhanced entry requirements and border security measures, granted state and local governments increased discretion on enforcing federal immigration laws, lowered the threshold for annual refugee admittances, and implemented the controversial family separation policy<\/a>. In his campaign platform<\/a>, Biden articulated a fundamentally different approach to immigration, citing the $2 trillion in economic benefits that foreign-born workers produce in the U.S. annually and expressing a desire to welcome and integrate immigrants into U.S. communities. He also promised a path to citizenship for 11 million currently undocumented immigrants living and working in the U.S., ordered a 100-day moratorium on deportations (which was blocked by a federal judge<\/a> in February 2021), and proposed reforms to the work visa system. While Trump sought to decrease legal immigration into the U.S. by placing limits on work visas<\/a> for both low-skilled and high-skilled labor, Biden has proposed increasing the annual cap of 140,000 employment-based visas awarded and issuing green cards<\/a> to Ph.D. graduates in STEM fields upon graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Trump Administration Admitted a Historically Low Number of Refugees<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of the Clinton administration, the ceiling for U.S. refugees\u2019 admittances has steadily declined. It reached its lowest historical level ever in 2020, when the Trump administration admitted just 11,841 refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Annual Refugee Ceiling, 1993-2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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