In 2025, the Trump administration, acting on presidential decrees, implemented racist and anti-immigrant policies that dehumanized and criminalized migrants and asylum seekers. Nearly all federal law enforcement agencies were tasked with enforcing immigration regulations. Armored vehicles patrolled the streets, and masked security forces arrested migrants and U.S. citizens. Targets included areas near schools, religious centers, hospitals, and other facilities previously considered sensitive locations where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was prohibited from conducting raids. New, federally funded detention facilities, such as the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center, were constructed.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained large numbers of people, resulting in thousands being held in overcrowded facilities under inhumane conditions, sometimes on military bases. Opportunities for bail were reduced. Authorities also reverted to the practice of arresting entire families and detaining them separately. Third-country nationals were deported to other countries without due process.
Invoking the Alien Enemies Act, the US government unlawfully deported 252 Venezuelan men from the US to El Salvador in March 2025. After being detained for months in the notorious CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento Contra el Terrorismo) detention center, they were returned to Venezuela – from where they had previously fled to the US.
The government ended the so-called Parole program, which had allowed entry to people from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela under certain conditions, and abolished temporary protection status for people from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Cameroon, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. As a result, thousands of foreign nationals were at risk of being unlawfully deported while their legal appeals were pending.
The US refugee resettlement program was suspended. A blanket entry ban was in place for people from 19 countries and for those with travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority. Nationals of 19 other countries were subject to restrictions.
President Trump declared a state of emergency for the border region between the US and Mexico. The CBP One app, which allowed asylum seekers to schedule official appointments at specific border crossings, was shut down, and all previously confirmed appointments were canceled. This effectively eliminated the possibility of applying for asylum at the US-Mexico border.
