In November, the Trump administration made people from 19 nations ineligible to obtain legal status, an order that has rippled through the immigrant community.
Texas is home to roughly 2 million undocumented people with the top 10 countries of origin being Mexico (1,169,100), Honduras (192,000), El Salvador (155,700), India (95,000), Guatemala (87,m300), Venezuela (84,700), Columbia (26,200), China (22,400), Nicaragua (22,200) and Nigeria (19,400).
When the Trump administration halted immigration applications from those countries and placed them on a federal travel ban list, it sent a wave of unease through experts, attorneys and immigrant families. Advocates are working to ensure people have the correct information. Even those going the process legally are concerned the policy could change to include them.
According to Sarah Spreitzer, vice president at the American Council on Education’s government relations division, it will likely affect the number of international students at Texas universities and colleges. While the number of international students is relatively small in Texas, across the U.S. colleges have reported a 17% drop in international enrollment this fall.
The strict immigration order and restrictions on green cards, citizenship and asylum decisions came after two National Guard members were shot by an Afghan national in Washington, D.C. in late November. The policy orders the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services agency to review the cases of people who are applying for a green card or already have been approved for one, which could include additional interviews with government agents.
The Department of Homeland Security announced last Wednesday that an estimated 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the country since the start of Trump’s second term.
U.S. DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement said the Trump administration breaking records with more than 2.5 million illegal aliens leaving the U.S., with DHS deporting more 605,000 and another 1.9 million self-deporting.
The department’s tallies of deportations do not include the number of illegal immigrants who have selfdeported and left without informing the government. DHS only recorded about 13,000 migrants who have self-deported; these were tracked by the CBP Home App , which gave illegal immigrants a free flight and $1,000 to leave.
Meanwhile, tensions between Venezuela and the U.S. continue to ramp up with the Trump administration carrying out two military strikes that killed at least 11 people, as well as seizing an oil tanker off Venezuela.