How Trump's Second Term Has Reshaped US Immigration, From the Border to Visas

Immigration has been at the center of Donald Trump's political message since he launched his first presidential campaign in 2015, accusing Mexico of sending drugs and crime across the border. In his second term, with a more accommodating Supreme Court and tens of billions of dollars in extra enforcement money from Congress, he has faced fewer limits than before. With midterm elections approaching and widely seen as a referendum on his presidency, the issue remains high on voters' minds.

The most visible change is at the southern border. Under Joe Biden, more than 4.5 million migrant encounters were recorded there in 2023 and 2024 combined. Biden's administration eventually cut monthly figures by restricting asylum claims, but after Trump returned to office the flow shrank to a trickle. When the BBC visited El Paso, Texas, in November 2025, it found quiet streets where makeshift camps had once housed thousands of migrants. The administration effectively froze asylum applications at the border, ended "catch and release," sent troops to the area and pressed Mexico to curb northbound migration. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on 16 October that "strong enforcement works."

Wall construction has also picked up, helped by $46.5bn in new funding from the "One Big Beautiful" spending bill. Government figures show about 644 miles of primary wall and 75 miles of secondary wall existed before Trump's return. Since then, 250 more miles of barriers and detection technology have been completed, with another 1,443 miles under construction. Experts say the picture is more complicated than those numbers suggest, as some work is an upgrade rather than new building. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council said there has been no significant change in crossings since new construction began in earnest, and he attributed the drop to Trump's policies and messaging. Trump, speaking at a Kentucky rally on 17 October, called himself "the King of the Wall" and again claimed Mexico paid for it.

Inside the country, arrests and detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have surged, reaching a record of nearly 50,000 in July, according to the Deportation Data Project. The same data shows that a large share of those held have no criminal convictions, and detentions of immigrants with criminal histories hit an all-time low of 27% that month. By mid-July, ICE was removing an average of 1,255 people per day, compared with about 770 in Biden's final months, though Biden's removals had risen sharply in his last year.

These tactics have unsettled many Americans, including some who back stricter limits in general. That became more evident after Operation Metro Surge, a two-month enforcement action in Minneapolis in early 2026 that left two US citizens dead. A New York Times and Siena poll released on 21 October found 50% of voters trust Democrats on immigration, against 46% for Republicans, despite it being a traditional Republican strength. A Politico and Public First poll in late September found 31% of non-MAGA Republicans believe the campaign has become too aggressive.

Refugee admissions have fallen sharply. Trump suspended them soon after taking office, then in February narrowly reopened the process for Afrikaners from South Africa, whom the White House says are persecuted, a claim Pretoria denies. The 2026 fiscal year cap was set at 7,500 and raised to 17,500 in May. State Department data shows 16,292 refugees admitted so far, of whom 16,287 were South African. By comparison, about 60,000 arrived in fiscal 2023 and 100,000 in 2024. Temporary Protected Status has also been ended for hundreds of thousands of people, and in June the Supreme Court upheld the decision to end it for some 350,000 Haitians.

Legal routes have narrowed as well. Dozens of countries deemed security risks face full or partial visa and travel freezes, and enhanced vetting has slowed green card processing. A $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, introduced in September 2025, stunned the tech industry, and registrations for 2027 fell 40% according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. A court has blocked the fee for now, though the threat appears to have deterred employers. A Wharton School study found the changes would have "no significant impact" on the wages of US-born workers.

One route has opened for those with money. The "Trump Gold Card," launched in 2025, offers residency in exchange for a $1m "gift" to the government plus a non-refundable $15,000 application fee. Uptake appears minimal, with only one applicant accepted by April.