How the Trump administration used 'deceptively mundane' rule changes to curb immigration


Banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and rescinding DACA were well-known, highly public actions carried out by former President Donald Trump as he sought to curb immigration during his lone term in the White House, but his administration also implemented "an extensive, bureaucratic" strategy to "transform immigration through rule changes, adjustments to asylum officers' guidelines, modifications to enforcement norms, and other measures," The New Yorker reports.
Many of these "deceptively mundane" rule changes have been tracked by immigrants' rights groups, and they could be as simple as "changing one single word on a form," said Lucas Guttentag, a law professor at Yale and Stanford who is considered "one of the most fastidious chroniclers" of the low-key alterations over the last four years. For example, the ombudsman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services discovered the agency began rejecting some paperwork if the blank spaces weren't filled out with "N/A," the shorthand for "non-applicable." And the USCIS also redesigned its civics exam so that the answer for the question "Who does a U.S. senator represent?" from "All people of the state" to "Citizens of their state."
Per The New Yorker, Guttentag's tracking project logged 1,058 changes to the immigration system by the end of Trump's presidency, which helped cut the number of legal immigrants to the U.S. nearly in half. Read more at The New Yorker.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?
Today's Big Question Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?
-
Glastonbury and the BBC: time for a change?
Talking Point Furore over Bob Vylan broadcast could 'mark the end' for streaming festival live
-
Hotels with kitchen gardens for a foodie weekend away
The Week Recommends Feast on seasonal produce straight from the veg patch at these country retreats
-
IAEA: Iran could enrich uranium 'within months'
Speed Read The chief United Nations nuclear inspector, Rafael Grossi, says Iran could be enriching uranium again soon
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Iran nukes program set back months, early intel suggests
Speed Read A Pentagon assessment says US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites only set the program back by months, not years. This contradicts President Donald Trump's claim.
-
Trump says Iran and Israel agreed to ceasefire
Speed Read This followed a night of Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and multiple waves of missiles fired by Iran
-
Israel strikes Iran, killing military and nuclear chiefs
Speed Read Israeli officials said the attack was a 'preemptive' strike on Iran's nuclear program
-
Israel deports Thunberg after seizing Gaza aid boat
speed read The Swedish activist was delivering food and medical aid to Palestine, highlighting the growing humanitarian crisis there
-
Colombian senator shot on streets of Bogotá
speed read Miguel Uribe Turbay, who has announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election, was shot at a rally
-
Trump says Putin vowed retaliation for Kyiv strike
speed read The Russian president intends to respond to Ukraine's weekend drone strikes on Moscow's warplanes