Donald Trump is President of the United States again. I hope he does well. I know many people are optimistic about the potential for Trump to right many of the wrongs of the Biden administration (and there were many wrongs of the Biden administration!). I hope to use this space to address some of Trump’s policies. For today, I want to discuss elements of his immigration policy, which is one of the positions Trump takes that has garnered the most support among American voters.

There are several elements that Trump has already made a part of his immigration policy:

1. Declare a National Border Emergency. This seems reasonable, given the open border policy of the Biden administration. Even if border crossings are not what they once were because Biden, looking to get re-elected, finally took action against the open border, the fact that the border was open for so long, that the CBP agents have been so demoralized, there continue to be caravans of migrants heading toward our southern border, that the Mexican government has communicated their lack of full cooperation with Trump’s intent to secure the border, and the continued exploitation of the open border by drug cartels and criminal gangs merits, I think, the attention of a National Border Emergency.
2. End Birthright Citizenship. It isn’t clear that Trump has the authority to end birthright citizenship. The Attorneys General of 18 states, including New Jersey and California, are suing Trump for what they claim is an unconstitutional action. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution states that all persons “born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” are citizens of the United States. The Amendment was ratified in 1868 to enshrine citizenship for Black former slaves, but has been interpreted by the US Supreme Court to mean that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen of the country. Obviously, Trump is challenging that interpretation, and his Executive Order says that babies born in the US to those who are here illegally or with only temporary legal status are not automatically citizens. Methinks this will end up back in the Supreme Court. Who knows how the current justices will decide. It does strike me as strange, though, that anyone simply born in the US is automatically a citizen. We don’t hold that to be true for the children of diplomats or ambassadors born in the US during their parent’s service. CORRECTION: in an earlier version of this post, I said that the US is the only Western country with birthright citizenship. I was incorrect. Canada, Mexico, and most of South America also has birthright citizenship. I apologize for the error.
3. End “Catch and Release” and reinstate “Remain in Mexico.” Trump ended the policy of “catch and release,” which was the practice of catching those entering the country illegally, then releasing them into the general population of the country with the understanding that they were to show up for a court date to determine their status. Of course, more often than not, the migrant who had entered the country illegally wouldn’t show up for their court date, which would often be scheduled months or even years after their entry into the country. It was even the case that the federal government bussed or flew migrants who had entered the country illegally to cities and towns in the interior of the country who were not prepared and did not have the resources to address the influx of these people into their communities – and with no resource assistance from the federal government. Instead, Trump will reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy, which requires those who enter the country illegally to remain in Mexico until their court date. This certainly makes sense. Releasing someone who enters the country illegally into the general population with a faux expectation that they’ll show up for a court date months or years down the road is essentially telling them, “Welcome to America!”
4. Designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. This allows the US government to treat the cartels essentially as armed forces of a foreign nation invading the United States, allowing the US to more easily remove their members from the country, or even treat them as enemy combatants, who can be killed just as an enemy combatant can be killed on the battlefield. It may even lead to the US military taking action against cartels in Mexico, though that would certainly strain relations with Mexico. But, hey, is Mexico gonna try to stop the US military from doing so, even if the US military bothered to tell the Mexican government of its plan (which it certainly would not)? Considering that the cartels have directly or indirectly killed more Americans than were killed throughout the entire fourteen or more years of war in Vietnam, I think the designation is warranted.
5. Deploy active troops to southern border. 1500 troops will be sent to the southern border to assist CBP in deportation flights and building barriers. Troops have been used on the border before to provide support, so this is no big deal, really. The only question is: why wasn’t this done before? During Biden’s open border policy, troops on the border would have been contrary to his goals of letting in as many people as possible. Trump intends to turn that around, and putting troops on the border in a supportive role is a step toward that.
6. Ending CBP One App. According to the US Customs and Border Protection website, “Effective January 20, 2025, the functionalities of CBP One™ that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled.” What this means is that those who intended to enter the country as undocumented aliens and had made appointments with the port authorities will no longer be able to keep or make those appointments. What does this mean in terms of their entering the country? Likely, they won’t be able to, which I’m sure is Trump’s intent. I’m not sure I’m a fan of this. If someone wants to enter the country, isn’t it better to encourage them to do so in a way that we have their information and can control the process rather than their attempting to enter surreptitiously?
7. Mass deportations. The most controversial element of Trump’s border policy is his plan for the mass deportations of those who entered the country illegally. Polls show that a majority of Americans are supportive of Trump’s plan to deport those who entered the country illegally, even if they’ve not committed any crimes while here. Pope Francis has said that it would be a “disgrace” if Trump put into action his plan for mass deportations. Of course, if Biden had not adopted an open border policy, those illegal immigrants wouldn’t be here in the first place. It’s not clear to me why those who entered the country illegally should not be deported, or at least required to enter a process where they can stay in the country legally. I appreciate the fact that some migrated to the US to escape poverty or dictatorships. But there needs to be a way to enter the country legally that will accommodate those who want to come. Allowing people to enter illegally, and allowing them to stay, sets a precedent that obeying the sovereignty of the US is optional. Should US citizens take the same attitude toward our federal and state laws? Trump has said that he plans first to focus on violent immigrants, those who have committed terrible crimes, or who are part of cartels or criminal gangs. It’s difficult to know for how many illegal immigrants that catagory applies, but it’s easily in the hundreds of thousands. There’s also the question of “got-aways,” those who entered the country without ever being in the custody of CBP. If Trump is going to focus first on criminals, cartels, and gangs (and he should), that may leave him little time to address the millions of other illegal immigrants whose only crime was entering the country illegally.

The best solution to this problem, as far as I’m concerned, is to deport as soon as possible those migrants who entered the country legally or illegally who have committed violent or drug crimes, either here or in their home countries, are members of cartels, or members of criminal gangs. That’s just a no-brainer. As well, a process needs to be created for those who arrived illegally to either return to their home countries, or begin a process whereby they can stay here legally. We are not going to be able to deport all of the millions who arrived under Biden’s open door policy. Many of them came here to truly escape poverty or dictatorships, and they only want a chance to make a better life for themselves. There’s no question that the Biden administration gave them every reason to believe that if they came to the US, legally or otherwise, there would be no consequences for them having done so. In that sense, they came in good faith, even if Biden had no grounds on which to make that promise (and he didn’t). These people want to stay. They want to contribute. They should be given every opportunity to do so, above board and legally.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.