While President Donald Trump has taken a series of measures to restrict immigration into the U.S., particularly illegal immigration, he has also made a handful of less-scrutinized moves to help some immigrants on their way to becoming citizens.
Trump ran on a platform of securing the southern border, deporting illegal immigrants and also shutting down parole programs introduced by the Biden administration to allow migrants to enter the U.S.
Since taking office, he has also signed executive orders declaring a national emergency at the border and suspending refugee resettlement.
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President Donald Trump with Melania Trump (Jacob Safar/@yaakovsafar)
But he made an apparent exception to the refugee resettlement pause this month when he signed an executive order accusing the South African government of allowing attacks on white Afrikaner farmers.
That executive order, which cut assistance to the South African government, was accompanied by a move to offer Afrikaners refugee status.
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“The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination,” Trump’s order said.
“Such plan shall be submitted to the President through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor,” he said.
Trump’s administration also made a significant move affecting immigrants in the U.S. already, if they are applying for their green card.
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New U.S. citizens listen as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks during a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony inside the Robert N.C. Nix Federal Courthouse on October 19, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a short announcement on Jan 22, announcing that it was waiving the requirements that those immigrants applying for an adjustment to permanent legal status present documentation showing they have had a COVID-19 vaccine.
Mandates for the COVID vaccine were controversial, and many Americans have declined to take it and pushed back against requirements that they do so. Now, those who are seeking to remain in the U.S. permanently have the ability to avoid the vaccine but still progress on the way to citizenship.
“USCIS will not issue any Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny related to proving a COVID-19 vaccination,” the announcement said. “USCIS will not deny any adjustment of status application based on the applicant’s failure to present documentation that they received the COVID-19 vaccination.”
It is unclear if any additional moves by the Trump administration are incoming that could be viewed as pro-immigrant.
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While some of Trump’s broader moves on immigration have cut legal forms of immigration, including parole and refugee limits, the main focus has been on cutting and disincentivizing illegal immigration.
The Department of Homeland Security has dramatically increased illegal immigrant arrests in the interior, and numbers at the border have also dropped significantly, according to government data.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
