Photos and videos are available here
Livestream of the briefing is available here
The Trump administration released a total of ten Executive Orders (EO) and over ten memos furthering the EOs related to immigration in his first week in office. These orders are meant to attack immigrant communities, end asylum, and have a chilling effect on organizations and individuals working to support immigrants and refugees. The list of actions is long, each with devastating impacts on immigrant communities and those seeking refuge in the United States. These actions collectively advance an anti-immigrant mass deportation agenda on multiple fronts, with the full reach of the federal government.
This fact sheet analyses the actions in three categories: 1) actions that target and harm immigrant communities living here - such as revoking the Biden policies on “enforcement priorities and on “sensitive locations” 2) actions that target asylum seekers and refugees 3) actions that go against the Constitution and the rule of law that further the mass deportation agenda.
The fact sheet will focus on the first two buckets of administration actions targeting immigrant communities and asylum seekers/refugees as they will have immediate and devastating impacts on New York’s immigrant communities.
Category 1: Actions that target immigrant communities living here
Expanding enforcement in communities
- Revoking the Biden administration’s sensitive locations policy that protected churches, schools and hospitals from ICE enforcement.
The Trump administration issued a directive revoking the Biden administration’s policy that protected sensitive locations from immigration enforcement. Under the Biden administration, these included preschools, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions); healthcare facilities (including hospitals, doctor’s offices, and community health clinics); places of worship; places where children gather (including playgrounds and bus stops); social services establishments (such as domestic violence shelters and food pantries); disaster/emergency response sites (including evacuation routes); weddings, funerals, and religious ceremonies; and parades, demonstrations, and rallies. This included refraining from enforcement actions “near” these protected areas. This action revoking protection from ICE enforcement at sensitive locations attacks the physical safety of immigrants, instills fear of even essential spaces in everyday life, and undermines public safety for everyone.
Now community members will need to rely on basic constitutional protections, namely the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the Fifth Amendment which ensures the right to remain silent when confronted by law enforcement. New York has some laws and policies that limit colluding with federal immigration enforcement, though they do not prevent ICE from taking enforcement actions in these areas.
- Revoking the Biden administration’s enforcement priorities. The EO “Initial Recissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” revokes Biden’s Executive Order 13993 (entitled “Revision of Civil Immigration Enforcement Policies and Priorities”). Under the Biden administration, DHS prioritized the detention and deportation of certain categories of immigrants, including those determined by the administration to pose a public safety risk, and deprioritized the enforcement actions for others. By removing that prioritization, anyone who is present without legal authorization in the United States, regardless of their community ties, family ties, or how long they have lived here, will be a target for ICE.
Expanding expedited removal and detention nationally, fast tracking deportations
- Expanding the use of expedited removal, including to those with temporary status. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” orders the expansion of expedited removal, which allows DHS officers to deport people without a court hearing or access to counsel. Previously, expedited removal only applied within 100 miles of the U.S. border but now, it has been expanded to anywhere in the country. Now any noncitizen found anywhere in the United States who cannot prove that they have been in the country for more than two years can be deported immediately unless they express a fear of persecution.
- Expanding detention nationally. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” orders immigration authorities to detain people “to the extent permitted by law.” This will drastically increase the number of people in ICE and Customs and Border Protection facilities, which often have cruel and inhumane conditions. In addition, people in immigration detention are not guaranteed access to counsel or other protections provided for people in the criminal legal system. New Yorkers arrested by ICE in the community or at an ICE check-in could be detained anywhere in the country and be put in an expanded national system of detention.
Limiting lawful immigration status, putting more people at risk of deportation
- Ending parole programs. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” limits the use of parole authority. The EO “Securing our Borders” orders the immediate end of humanitarian parole programs used to establish lawful avenues for people fleeing violence from countries such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. This will impact many living in New York under this temporary legal status and make them vulnerable to arrest and deportation.
- Limiting Temporary Protective Status. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” also further requires the incoming administration to review Temporary Protective Status and consider limitations in scope, which would likely mean many New Yorkers would be at risk of losing their lawful status and of ICE arrest. All of this would destabilize New York communities.
Attacks on public benefits that families and children depend on
- Restricting access to public benefits. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” directs federal agencies to resume a prior policy to restrict access to public benefits for undocumented immigrants. Even though most undocumented people are not eligible for public benefits, this will have a chilling effect on New York families and impact their access to necessities like food and health.
Weaponizing local and state law enforcement
- Expanding 287(g) agreements. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” calls for the expansion of 287(g) programs which allow DHS to delegate its immigration enforcement authority to local law enforcement. Deploying local law enforcement to serve as immigration enforcement agents reduces trust in local law enforcement and deters immigrants from reporting crime. This policy also enables harmful racial profiling practices that often targets Black and Brown people, including U.S. citizens. We can expect more jurisdictions in New York to sign 287(g) programs in the coming months and years. In NYS many local law enforcement agencies routinely collude with immigration enforcement, however currently the only 287(g) agreement is in Rensselaer County which has been in place since 2018.
Further criminalizing immigrants
- Criminal and civil penalties for immigrants who do not register as undocumented. The EO, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” orders the DHS secretary and U.S. attorney general to impose criminal and civil penalties on immigrants who fail to register as being undocumented, putting millions at risk for simply failing to provide proper paperwork. The impact of this registry remains to be seen.
- Increasing federal criminal prosecutions. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” also orders an increase in federal prosecutions for immigration-related offenses, including for entering or remaining in the United States without legal authorization. These prosecutions penalize people for not having lawful status through criminal prosecution and have happened with little due process.
- Increasing the use of the death penalty for undocumented immigrants. The EO “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety” requires the attorney general to seek the death penalty for any capital offense committed by an undocumented person in the United States.
- Designating cartels and gangs as terrorist organizations. This EO threatens to bar asylum access for people fleeing violence inflicted by those organizations. With these designations, the federal government will be able to target not only these organizations but people who may have provided support or resources to them, whether willingly or not. (See Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists).
- Laying the groundwork for country-based travel bans. The EO “Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats” requires federal agencies to lay the groundwork for country-based travel bans, such as the Muslim and African ban in the first Trump administration. Trump directs the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of homeland security, and the director of national intelligence to draft a report within 60 days identifying which nationals to ban from entry into the United States.
Punishing sanctuary jurisdictions, organizations, and people helping immigrants
- Attacking sanctuary jurisdictions.The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” directs the attorney general and DHS to take action to strip federal funding from sanctuary communities as well as to take civil or criminal legal action against these jurisdictions. As New York is home to several sanctuary jurisdictions and has adopted sanctuary policies there may be implications. New York will also likely become a target for ICE raids as retaliation for its sanctuary policies. Despite some policies that limit the use of local resources for immigration enforcement, there is still collusion and information sharing between local and state law enforcement and immigration enforcement. This is why, despite these threats, New York must pass the New York For All Act.
- Chilling activity from organizations and individuals working to protect immigrants. The EO “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” directs the attorney general and DHS to review and audit federal grants and contracts with non-governmental organizations that support or provide services to undocumented immigrants. This will punish organizations that serve immigrant communities and harm the people those organizations are serving, targeting not only immigrants but those who support them.
Category 2: Actions that target asylum seekers and refugees
The second broad category of actions directly target asylum seekers and refugees, starting with shutting down the border. Many of those impacted are seeking reunification with their family and community members already in New York. Asylum seekers and refugees already in the country will also be harmed by the actions in Category 1.
Making asylum impossible to access, effectively banning it
- Suspending refugee resettlement. The EO “Realigning the United States Refugee Admission Program” suspends refugee resettlement “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.” This program has allowed people who have experienced persecution to seek refuge in the United States, including in New York. This decision will particularly impact cities in upstate New York who have welcomed refugees and the refugees living in those communities who were awaiting reunification with family members through the resettlement program. These families are now in limbo.
- Reinstating the Remain in Mexico program. The EO “Securing our Borders” reinstates the Remain in Mexico policy started under the first Trump administration, which forces asylum seekers to wait in dangerous conditions in Mexico for asylum processing. This policy has already proven to be cruel, ineffective and chaotic and it puts asylum seekers in limbo. Families forced to wait in Mexico have been exposed to dangerous conditions where they are likely to face violence, human trafficking, rape, torture and kidnapping.
- Ending the use of the CBP One app. The EO “Securing our Borders” calls for the end of the use of the CBP One app, the one remaining means for seeking asylum interviews at the southern border. The Trump administration shut down the app’s appointment registration function and cancelled all existing appointments for those already registered on the app.
Ending so called “catch and release” at the border and putting asylum seekers in detention
- The EO “Securing our Borders” instructs DHS to end the practice of allowing people seeking asylum at the border to be released from detention and to live in the community while their cases proceed (so called “catch and release”). This will lead to more unnecessary and cruel detention of asylum seekers.
Category 3: Actions that go against the Constitution and the rule of law that further the anti-immigrant agenda
The Executive Orders in this category are sweeping in scope and in violation of the rule of law. Their legality will be challenged in the courts.
- Revoking birthright citizenship. The EO “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” orders federal agencies not to recognize the U.S. citizenship of children born in the United States when one parent does not have permanent status here. This will effectively create a group of second class citizens who will not have access to the same benefits available to all U.S. citizen children. This would be devastating to New York’s immigrant families, many of whom are of mixed status, if it takes effect. However, this is likely to be found unconstitutional and is already being litigated in the courts.
- Closing the southern border. The EO “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion” names an “invasion” at the border to empower the Department of State to “repel, repatriate, or remove” any person arriving at the southern border on the justification that the government cannot properly vet them for public health or safety risks. This means that even people seeking asylum would be turned back at the border. The legality of this policy will be challenged in court. Historically, restrictions at the southern border lead to increased crossings at the Northern border, which may mean more asylum seekers seeking New York.
- Using the military at the border. The EO “Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States” declares a “border emergency” to use federal resources at the border, such as sending military personnel to the border, increasing detention capacity, and building the border wall. It also calls for the review of revision of the “use of force” policy at the border. In “Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States” Trump also instructed the secretary of defense to reassign the U.S. Northern Command to the southern border. While the military typically provides civil support for disaster relief, using the military to carry out civil immigration enforcement would violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from directly engaging in law enforcement in the United States.