After four years of disastrous results, the American people can expect a drastic improvement in immigration policy in 2025.
Following the election of Donald Trump in November, those who have long advocated for stronger border policies finally have reason for optimism. To describe what has happened at the southern border over the past few years as a crisis would be the understatement of the century. Since Trump’s first term ended in January 2021, more than 10 million illegal aliens have crossed the border thanks to an unprecedented dereliction of duty from the Biden Administration.
As a result, a record number of suspected terrorists have entered the country. The drug and human trafficking cartels have raked in historic profits as a record number of migrants have perished on their journey to the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of children are unaccounted for. Major U.S. cities are facing budget crises. The damage done in the Biden years is difficult to calculate, and will take significant time, effort, and money to reverse. Entering 2025, however, there is reason to be optimistic that it can be done.
While the policies of the past four years have had tragic consequences for the country, they have also opened the eyes of the American public to the dangers of unchecked mass immigration. Polls have consistently shown the American electorate adopting a more law-and-order approach to immigration. A majority of Americans now support mass deportations of illegal aliens, the building of a wall on the southern border, and strict curbs on the number of legal immigrants the U.S. takes in on an annual basis. Then, on Nov. 5, 2024, the American people validated these polls and sent an unmistakable message that they’re ready for a return to the rule of law when it comes to America’s immigration system. They overwhelmingly re-elected Donald Trump, who made border security and mass deportations central planks of his successful campaign. Since being re-elected, Trump has already taken significant actions to implement his campaign promises.
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Just days after his election, Trump named Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) Senior Fellow and former Acting ICE Director Tom Homan as his “border czar,” effectively tasking him to lead the effort to fulfill these critical campaign promises. During a recent appearance on IRLI’s “No Border, No Country,” podcast, Homan detailed his plans to implement Trump’s enhanced deportation agenda, making clear that while dangerous criminals will be the first priority, nobody in the country illegally is off the table when it comes to enforcement. Of all the major immigration policy changes that will come as a result of the change in administrations, the most important one will be the incoming president’s willingness to actually enforce U.S. immigration law.
The most critical element of immigration enforcement is deportation of those in the country illegally. Without a willingness to deport, the federal government will be unable to prevent the U.S. border from being overrun. Restoring this deterrence will be a top priority of the incoming Trump Administration.
Deporting millions of illegal aliens will not be an easy task, but members of the incoming administration have a clear framework of which to operate on. In addition to identifiable public safety and national security threats, there are nearly two million illegal aliens who either have criminal records or un-enforced orders of removal. As Homan declared on IRLI’s podcast; , “This is going to be a well-planned, targeted enforcement operation. We know exactly who we’re looking for.”
Along with mass deportations, we can expect the Trump Administration to bring back other policies that proved successful during its first term. This includes the Remain-in-Mexico program, which required foreign nationals to stay in Mexico while awaiting hearings to adjudicate their asylum claims. Despite–or perhaps because of–the program’s success, the Biden Administration terminated it. The Remain-in-Mexico program led to the most secure border in modern history during the president-elect’s first administration and its reinstatement is likely to be one on Trump’s first executive orders upon returning to office.
The new administration will also accelerate efforts to construct a wall at the southern border, a necessary barrier to stem the flow of illegal migration. They will also likely put an end to the Biden Administration’s catch-and-release program, and actually enforce the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that requires the federal government to detain illegal aliens while they await hearings on their asylum claims.
On both personnel and policy, there will be a major shift on immigration policy in the coming year. It will not be easy to undo all the damage the Biden Administration has done over the past four years, but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic that 2025 will be the year America reclaims its sovereignty.
William J. Davis is a communications associate for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.
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