Timeline: Trump’s immigration policies

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US President Donald Trump is expected to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), a policy introduced in 2012 that gives children brought to the US illegally the right to temporarily stay, study and work in the country.

The repeal of DACA would be the latest in a series of controversial policy moves on immigration since his January 20 inauguration. CGTN looks back at the past few months of abrupt announcements and ensuing legal battles.

January 25: Trump signs Mexico wall, deportations orders

Trump signs two executive orders, the first calling for construction to begin on a border wall with Mexico, as promised in his election campaign. The second order widens criteria for deportations, and removes federal funding for so-called “sanctuary cities” – jurisdictions that do not fully comply with national immigration law.

Trump‘s quote:

“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records… we have a lot of these people, probably two million, it could be even three million.”

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order to start the Mexico border wall project at the Department of Homeland Security facility in Washington, DC, on January 25, 2017. /AFP Photo

Reaction:

Trump’s insistence that Mexico will fund the wall prompts a diplomatic rift.

Construction on the wall is still yet to begin.

A California federal judge in April partly blocks the “sanctuary cities” order.

41,000 undocumented migrants arrested in the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, a 38 percent year-on-year increase.

Deportations however decrease by 12 percent compared to the year before.

January 27: Trump’s first “Muslim ban”

Trump shocks the world with an executive order, calling for a 90 day ban on all arrivals to the US from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, as well as permanently halting all refugee arrivals from Syria.

Trump’s quote:

“This is not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe.”

Reaction:

Mass protests across the country, particularly at airports, which became scenes of mass confusion.

Federal judges block part of the order and issue temporary restraining orders.

Former president Barack Obama breaks protocol by issuing a statement, fundamentally disagreeing “with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”

Yemenis Samar Alwahiri, Saleh Alambri (R) and daughter Laila Alambri, 3, who were among those stranded in Djibouti when President Trump ordered his travel ban, arrive to Los Angeles International Airport on February 8, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. /AFP Photo

February 9: Court upholds restraining order on ban

A three-judge panel in San Francisco’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the travel ban should not be reinstated, saying “the government has pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of the countries named in the order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the United States.”

Trump’s quote:

“It's a political decision, we're going to see them in court, and I look forward to doing that.”

Reaction:

The Trump administration chooses not to take the case to the Supreme Court, says it is “considering and pursuing all options.”

Trump’s defeated election rival Hilary Clinton simply tweets “3-0,” referring to the ban’s third defeat in court.

March 6: Trump unveils new travel ban

Trump announces a 90 day ban on arrivals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and a 120 day ban on all refugees.

AFP Photo

Trump’s quote:

“People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!”

Reaction:

The state of Hawaii immediately calls for and gets a temporary restraining order on the latest ban.

June 26: Supreme Court allows parts of ban to go into effect

The Supreme Court rules that the travel ban can apply if citizens of the six countries affected cannot prove any “bona fide” relationship with a US national. Under these conditions, the ban goes into effect at 8pm on June 29, and the Supreme Court says it will hear the case for and against the full executive order in October.

A woman attends a town hall meeting following a rally to protest restrictive guidelines issued by the US on who qualifies as a close familial relationship under the Supreme Court order on the Muslim and refugee ban at Union Square on June 29, 2017, in New York. /AFP Photo

Trump’s quote:

“As president, I cannot allow people into our country who want to do us harm.”

Reaction:

Democrats and pro-immigration groups vow to continue fighting the terms of the order, ahead of the Supreme Court’s session in October.

August 3: Trump backs RAISE immigration act

First introduced to the Senate in February 2017, Trump gives his backing to the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act. The bill proposes cutting legal immigration by half over the next decade to around 500,000 per year, tightening green card rules and removing welfare for new immigrants.

Mexicans take part in an anti-Trump march in Monterrey, Mexico, on February 12, 2017. /AFP Photo‍

Trump’s quote:

“…the most significant reform to our immigration system in half a century.”

Reaction:

1,470 economists sign a letter in support of immigration’s contribution to the economy, warning “the benefits that immigration brings to society far outweigh their costs.”

RAISE Act still needs to go through Congress, where it is likely to meet strong resistance from Democrats and some Republicans.