How many promises on immigration has Donald Trump kept?
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Los Angeles — US President Donald Trump took a hard line on immigration in the 2016 election, making it his signature campaign issue. Now, as he runs for re-election, he is highlighting the promises he says he kept and warning that his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, will roll them back.
Trump pledged to drastically restrict both the number of immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border and ramp up arrests of those living and working illegally in the country. His policies have faced legal challenges and a backlash from immigration advocates.
Here are the major immigration promises he campaigned on in 2016:
‘Extreme vetting’ and ‘preventing Muslim immigration’
During his 2016 campaign, Trump vowed to subject people from certain countries to increased scrutiny before granting them visas and called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.
One of his first acts as president was to sign an order banning entry to immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. A federal court blocked the initial ban, but in 2018 the supreme court upheld an amended version that has since been expanded to other countries.
Building a wall
“Build that wall” was one of the most common refrains at Trump rallies leading up to the 2016 election and remains a central tenet of Trump's immigration policy. He vowed he would build 1,609km of wall, about half the length of the US-Mexico border, and that Mexico would pay for it.
As of mid-August, US Customs and Border Protection reported it planned to build or replace 1,190km of border wall, with $15bn allocated to fund it. None of the money has come from Mexico.
The agency says so far it has built 443km of border wall under the Trump administration, but most of that replaced previous structures. Only about 50km of wall have been built in places that did not previously have barriers.
Ending ‘catch and release’
Trump regularly vowed in his 2016 campaign to end the “catch and release” of immigrants who crossed the Mexico border — the practice of allowing immigrants detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be released from detention while going through immigration court proceedings.
The administration has, on several occasions in announcements and memoranda, said it was ending “catch and release,” though it has, at times, continued to release immigrants into the interior of the ...
Trump pledged to drastically restrict both the number of immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border and ramp up arrests of those living and working illegally in the country. His policies have faced legal challenges and a backlash from immigration advocates.
Here are the major immigration promises he campaigned on in 2016:
‘Extreme vetting’ and ‘preventing Muslim immigration’
During his 2016 campaign, Trump vowed to subject people from certain countries to increased scrutiny before granting them visas and called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.
One of his first acts as president was to sign an order banning entry to immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. A federal court blocked the initial ban, but in 2018 the supreme court upheld an amended version that has since been expanded to other countries.
Building a wall
“Build that wall” was one of the most common refrains at Trump rallies leading up to the 2016 election and remains a central tenet of Trump's immigration policy. He vowed he would build 1,609km of wall, about half the length of the US-Mexico border, and that Mexico would pay for it.
As of mid-August, US Customs and Border Protection reported it planned to build or replace 1,190km of border wall, with $15bn allocated to fund it. None of the money has come from Mexico.
The agency says so far it has built 443km of border wall under the Trump administration, but most of that replaced previous structures. Only about 50km of wall have been built in places that did not previously have barriers.
Ending ‘catch and release’
Trump regularly vowed in his 2016 campaign to end the “catch and release” of immigrants who crossed the Mexico border — the practice of allowing immigrants detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be released from detention while going through immigration court proceedings.
The administration has, on several occasions in announcements and memoranda, said it was ending “catch and release,” though it has, at times, continued to release immigrants into the interior of the ...
