Trump’s Wall Isn’t Up Yet, But Stephen Miller Is Still Shrinking Immigration

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
While attention has been focused on President Donald Trump’s plan to curb illegal immigration to the United States, his administration, led by senior adviser Stephen Miller, is working tirelessly to decrease the number of foreigners entering America legally for work, family reunification, or to seek refuge.
The Washington Post provided a rundown of the variety of measures enacted by Trump’s administration in order to limit immigration. These measures include downsizing the refugee relocation program which is aimed at helping refugees seeking a new home after being forced to leave their homeland; ending a temporary protective status for Haitian nationals; and imposing new regulations on professional workers employed by U.S. companies. The administration has also endorsed legislation that would cut the number of Green Cards provided for legal permanent residency by half.
The article points to Miller’s key role in advancing these policies which he had first adopted with Jeff Sessions when serving as his Senate aide before the elections. “In less than a year, their immigration policy prescriptions have moved from the realm of think-tank wish lists to White House executive orders,” the Post noted.
Pro-immigration groups have decried these measures, which are aimed at lowering the total amount of residents who are not born in America. ““Within the administration there are a number of key players who are just looking for every opportunity, every program . . . every administrative or regulatory leeway they have to restrict entry into the United States,” said Linda Hartke, president and chief executive of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, an organization that resettles refugees.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
