Asylum & Visas
H2A Visas (FYI)
https://prismreports.org/2023/04/14/h2a-visa-wage-theft-exploitation/
https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1380
https://nfwm.org/farm-workers/farm-worker-issues/modern-day-slavery/
https://www.propublica.org/article/h-2a-farmworker-visa-safety-suggestions-experts
2001
2001-01-01 Trump helped Melania Trump obtain an Einstein Visa to enter the United States. This type of Visa is generally reserved for individuals with extraordinary ability in science, art, education, business or athletics requiring sustained national or international acclaim.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43256318
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5370991-crockett-melania-einstein-visa-question/
2017
2017-02-13 The USCIS raised the threshold for credible fear during asylum interviews, resulting in a high rate of denials.
https://immigrantjustice.org/a-timeline-of-the-first-trump-administrations-efforts-to-end-asylum/
https://www.aila.org/library/uscis-executive-summary-of-changes-to-the-credible
2018
2018-01-01 Trump instituted a multitude of bans, including for asylum, transit, safe third-country arrangements, and return to Mexico - blocking all migrants from US protection.
2019
2019-06-30 A memo issued by the USCIS attempted to strip away certain protections for underage unaccompanied immigrants, impacting their ability to access their right to asylum. In one example, the U.S. government was confining children alone in hotels for weeks without access to counsel or proper medical care.
https://immigrantjustice.org/a-timeline-of-the-first-trump-administrations-efforts-to-end-asylum/
UNVERIFIED GOOGLE FILE USE CAUTION https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_6gbFPjVDoxMHBVY2ktLVFTOFVYcWJYSHVHTGVxU196TGtZ/view?resourcekey=0-BKG3ZppXyMaoh0cRmf6EkA
2025 January
2025-01-20 Trump rescinded Executive Order 14010 Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework To Address the Causes of Migration, To Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and To Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border.
2025-01-20 Trump rescinded Executive Order 14012 Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.
2025-01-20 Trump rescinded Executive Order 14013 Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration.
2025 February
2025-02-17 Kristi Noem created a public DHS video warning immigrants to “self deport now”.
2025 March
2025-03-25 The administration revoked Tufts doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk’s visa after she co-authored a pro-Palestinian article. She was detained by ICE for six weeks before a court ordered her release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T98wJrupDMA
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/07/detained-tufts-student-rumeysa-ozturk-ruling
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/26/ice-agents-detain-tufts-university-graduate-student
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-student-denied-bond/
2025-03-27 Marco Rubio revoked over 300 student visas in retaliation for protests, saying, “Every time I find one of these lunatics I take away their visa”.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/27/marco-rubio-student-visas-palestine-00005141
2025 April
2026-04-01 Trump loomed over Supreme Court hearings on birthright citizenship as a “silent observer.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/ce8l27p3jr8o
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/01/politics/live-news/supreme-court-birthright-trump
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/01/trump-supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-hearing
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-makes-historic-scotus-appearance-birthright-citizenship-case
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/01/trump-supreme-court-birthright-citizenship/
2025-04-03 Tufts University confirmed that a second student’s visa was terminated without notification.
2025 June
2025-06-11 The DOJ issued a memorandum making it possible to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans.
https://www.justice.gov/civil/media/1404046/dl?inline
2025 September
2025-09-19 Trump signed an executive order imposing a $100K fee for H1B1 visas. This visa would normally allow highly skilled workers to enter the country’s tech industry; now it will only be accessible to those with wealth.
https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/h-1b-faq
2025 October
2025-10-15 Trump allegedly considered overhauling the refugee program to favor white people. During a rally at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Pocono, Pennsylvania Trump lamented that the U.S. was not receiving more immigrants from places like Norway or Sweden.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/politics/trump-refugee-white-people.html
https://www.newsweek.com/us-refugee-groups-sound-alarm-potential-trump-changes-10894034
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/08/trump-immigration-north-europe
2025 November
2025-11-06 The Trump administration gave Sudanese immigrants only 60 days to leave the US despite warnings from the UN of starvation and war escalations in the region.
2025-11-14 The Trump administration issued a new directive aimed at denying visas for foreigners based on medical conditions.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/12/nx-s1-5606348/immigrants-visas-health-conditions-trump-guidance
2025-11-26 After an Afghan national shot two National Guard troops in DC, the Trump administration weaponized the tragedy. Kristi Noem suggested the suspect was radicalized in the U.S., and Trump used the shooting to ban Afghan asylum seekers from entering the country. For context, Operation Allies Welcome was a program set up to allow Afghans targeted by Taliban for working with U.S. forces to reach asylum, and many of them have waited 20 or more years to work through a rigorous vetting process to get here. By singling out Afghani immigrants, current Afghani residents of the U.S. reportedly fear for their safety. The Trump administration blamed Biden for the shooting even though the suspect was vetted during both the Biden and Trump administrations.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/27/nx-s1-5622991/afghan-refugee-program-national-guard-shooting-suspect
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwk2p0d94xo
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6385764249112
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/shooting-washington-dc-national-guard-11-26-25
2025 December
2025-12-16 The White House imposed a travel ban on 39 countries from Africa and Asia.
https://www.cfr.org/article/guide-countries-trumps-travel-ban-list
2026 March
2026-03-09 The Trump administration left U.S. citizens and people who helped the U.S. fight the Taliban stranded in Qatar after the U.S. withdrawal in 2021.
https://www.businessinsider.com/stuck-in-doha-middle-east-turmoil-flight-turned-back-midair-2026-3
2026 April
2026-04-21 The U.N. Permanent Forum presented a topic on the AI boom driving extraction and scraping of indigenous medicinal knowledge, traditional stories and genetic data, and massive data centers threatening tribal lands and water resources. The Trump administration allegedly tried to deny visas for indigenous people to attend the forum.
https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/unpfii/25th-session
https://un-declaration.narf.org/unpfii2026-registration
https://ictnews.org/news/war-climate-change-and-ai-whats-at-stake-at-this-years-un-indigenous-forum/
2026-04-21 The Trump administration said it would be sending Afghan refugees who helped US forces during Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/21/afghan-refugees-us-congo
2026-04-23 The Trump administration ramped up their denaturalization process to rip away citizenship from legal citizens with no criminal history.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/justice-dept-citizens-denaturalization.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-dojs-alarming-new-plot-against-us-citizens-exposed/
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article315523070.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/23/trump-administration-denaturalization
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5845805-justice-department-citizen-denaturalization/
2026-04-25 Trump’s DHS made it easier to deport DACA recipients.
2026-04-27 The Trump administration instructed DHS and immigration officers to deny green cards to anyone who protested views that didn’t align with Trump, including criticizing Israel or supporting Palestine.
2026 May
2026-05-26 The Trump administration announced that anyone currently in the US applying for a green card must return to their countries and re-apply.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sYyM9WpkxA&list=WL&index=1&t=14s
https://www.npr.org/2026/05/23/nx-s1-5832399/trump-administration-green-card-abroad
2026 June
2026-06-26 SCOTUS ruled “metering” as legal, meaning they can legally turn back those seeking refuge.