On the first day of his second term of office, President Trump issued ten executive orders (EOs) impacting immigration in the U.S. The executive orders primarily focus on border security, asylum policies, and birthright citizenship and will likely have a wide-ranging impact on immigrants and the U.S. immigration system.

Birthright Citizenship

The “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” executive order challenges birthright citizenship as enshrined in the 14^th amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to children born on U.S. soil and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, including to parents who are not U.S. citizens. This order attempts to deny citizenship to persons born 30 days or more after January 20, 2025, whose mother is unlawfully present in the U.S. or in the U.S. in lawful but temporary status, and whose father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

This executive order could have the effect of denying citizenship and passports to children born as of February 19, 2025 in the U.S. to both undocumented parents, as well as parents lawfully in the U.S. on temporary visas. Several lawsuits have been filed challenging the executive order as unconstitutional and the order has recently been stayed by the 9^th Circuit. Litigation is currently ongoing for this executive order.

Extreme Vetting and Possible Travel Bans

The President announced an executive order entitled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” This executive order sets a 60-day window for officials at the Departments of State, Justice, Intelligence, and Homeland Security to identify countries for which “vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.”

This order could lead to travel restrictions being imposed on foreign nationals from countries identified by the administration as harmful to national security or other national interests of the U.S. In addition, individuals who have traveled to these countries during the past 5 years could be subject to extreme vetting and administrative processing delays when applying for a visa stamp at a U.S. Consulate abroad.

During the President’s previous administration, the following countries were targeted for similar travel restrictions: Chad, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Yemen.

While some of the President’s flurry of executive orders are currently being challenged by individuals and rights groups in court, employers and foreign nationals should be prepared for stricter vetting processes of visa applicants and possible travel bans in the coming months. Other notable executive orders take action to eliminate the use of the CBP One app allowing asylum applicants to make appointments at ports of entry, and declare a national emergency to enable the direction of military funds for border enforcement.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the Immigration Attorneys at Ryan Swanson.