Abstract

CARDENAS ALAMINOS, Nuty. “Make America White Again.” Changes in U.S. Migratory Policy under the Trump Administration. Norteamérica [online]. 2022, vol.17, n.2, pp.191-212.  Epub Apr 28, 2023. ISSN 2448-7228.  https://doi.org/10.22201/cisan.24487228e.2022.2.586.

This article analyzes how one of the most important changes during the Trump administration was the restriction of entry for family reunification in all forms of immigration policy: permanent, temporary, undocumented, and humanitarian. Based on the FitzGerald and Cook-Martín model (2014), the immigrant population was selected by applying diverse executive orders and administrative changes. Specifically, economic and humanitarian costs rose for migrants and their families in order to deincentivize their continuing to migrate (arrival, stay, and/or eventual reunification with more relatives), depending on the case. This had the aim of fulfilling one of the administration’s principles: stopping the growth of the non-white population in the United States. This policy had a particularly negative impact on Mexicans and Central Americans.

Keywords : immigration policy; Trump presidency; permanent immigrants; border security.