Lately, one of the most popular topics on social media is Project 2025. With the November presidential elections approaching, many users have expressed concern over what would be the policy manual for a second Trump administration.
This 22 million dollar project presented by the Heritage Foundation, although not specifically designed for Trump, wants the next president to be a conservative. That is why, in this context of uncertainty and polarization, we have to understand what exactly this project consists of and what its implications could be for United States immigration policy and the lives of millions of people in the country.
The proposals outlined in “Project 2025” represent a significant departure from traditional conservative immigration priorities. Instead of promoting merit-based immigration, encouraging assimilation, and improving interior enforcement, these measures are designed to dismantle the existing immigration system, negatively affecting U.S. prosperity and security and weakening the vitality of its workforce with long-term consequences for future generations.
In this article, we will explore in detail the content of Project 2025 and analyze how it could impact the nation's political and social landscape in the coming years, specifically regarding the issue of immigration.
What is Project 2025?
This is not the first time that the Heritage Foundation has launched a plan of this kind. For more than 40 years they have published different versions of their “Mandate for Leadership” detailing recommendations and plans for the next Republican administration.
The Foundation boasts a high success rate: the Trump administration implemented nearly 64% of its recommendations within the first year.
Project 2025 brings together the work of more than 400 conservative scholars who are drafting a blueprint for a second Trump administration. The document covers all policy areas, explaining in detail how a new Trump administration will dismantle the U.S. immigration system and how those changes will impact jobs, housing, education, transportation, and commerce for both immigrants and Americans.
Furthermore, they clarify how the administration would halt legal immigration, centralize power in the federal government, eliminate privacy protections, and put American security and prosperity at risk, all for the sake of a political obsession with immigration.
Main Proposals and Measures
The impacts of Project 2025 on immigration would be much more complex and destructive than previously reported. It is not simply a renewal of ideas from Trump's first term.
Instead, it reflects a detailed and comprehensive plan to minimize immigration levels and increase the power of the federal government in every state. These proposals do not have to go through either Congress or the courts and are specifically designed to dismantle the foundations of the immigration system.
1. Reduction of Federal Student Financial Aid
- Proposed Measure: The plan suggests blocking federal financial aid for approximately two-thirds of American college students if the state where they reside allows certain immigrant groups, including Dreamers (DACA recipients) with legal status, to access in-state tuition.
- Potential Impact: This measure could deter states from offering in-state tuition to Dreamers and other immigrants, as the loss of federal funds could have a significant impact on the finances of state universities. This would affect accessibility to higher education for millions of American students.
2. Elimination of Dreamers' Legal Status
- Proposed Measure: End the legal status of 500,000 Dreamers by reallocating staff time reviewing and processing renewal applications, resulting in delays and potential status expirations.
- Potential Impact: The elimination of legal status would leave many Dreamers vulnerable to deportation and they would lose access to educational and employment opportunities. In addition, local communities and the economy could be negatively affected by the loss of these active taxpayers. In Eagan, we have been able to help some DACA recipients set a path toward obtaining their permanent residence through the EB-2 NIW, but currently, the majority of DACA recipients depend on these renewals to remain in the country because there is no clear path to citizenship.
3. Suspension of Immigration Applications
- Proposed Measure: Use backlog numbers to order the automatic suspension of application intake for immigration categories that have a large number of backlogged cases.
- Potential Impact: This measure could lead to a freeze in the receipt of new applications, increasing existing delays and making family reunification and the entry of skilled workers more difficult.
4. Suspension of Temporary Visa Updates
- Proposed Measure: Suspend updates to the annual lists of eligible countries for H-2A and H-2B temporary visas, excluding the majority of populations that fill critical vacancies in sectors such as agriculture, construction, hospitality, and forestry.
- Potential Impact: The suspension of these updates would limit access to essential temporary workers, potentially leading to labor shortages in key sectors of the economy, increasing operating costs and product prices.
5. Housing Subsidy Restriction
- Proposed Measure: Prohibit US citizens from qualifying for federal housing subsidies if they live with someone who is not a US citizen or legal permanent resident.
- Potential Impact: This restriction could increase housing insecurity among mixed-status families, exacerbating social and economic problems for those US citizens who depend on these subsidies to access safe and affordable housing.
6. Disclosure of Information by States
- Proposed Measure: Compelling states to share driver's license and taxpayer identification information with federal authorities or risk losing funding.
- Potential Impact: The measure could pressure states to cooperate with federal authorities in identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants, increasing surveillance and fear among immigrant communities. It could also lead to litigation between states and the federal government.
7. Immediate Deportation of Rejected Visa Applicants and Beneficiaries
- Proposed Measure: Implement the immediate deportation of those whose visa applications are denied, as well as beneficiaries who do not qualify for legal status.
- Potential Impact: This policy would accelerate the deportation of immigrants whose cases are not approved, significantly reducing the time these individuals can remain in the country and increasing the burden on immigration and deportation systems.
8. Work Permit
- Proposed Measure: Restrict work authorization for certain immigrant groups, including asylum seekers and those with TPS (Temporary Protected Status).
- Potential Impact: The limitation of the work authorization would affect the ability of these immigrants to support themselves and their families, increasing their vulnerability and dependence on social assistance systems.
9. Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
- Proposed Measure: Reduce the scope of TPS and limit its renewal, affecting immigrants from countries with humanitarian crises.
- Potential Impact: The reduction of TPS would force many beneficiaries to return to unstable or dangerous countries, putting their safety and well-being at risk. This would affect their eligibility to continue renewing their TPS, live and work in the US, or remain in the country. It could also destabilize US communities that benefit from the presence and contribution of these immigrants. Currently, this is the list of countries with TPS:
- Afghanistan
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Cameroon
- El Salvador
- Ethiopia
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Somalia
- Sudan
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Ukraine
- Venezuela
- Yemen
10. Application Fee Increases and Limitation of Fee Waivers
- Proposed Measure: Significantly increase application fees for various immigration processes and limit fee waivers for those who cannot afford to pay.
- Potential Impact: The fee increases would make it harder for low-income individuals to access immigration processes, creating additional barriers and perpetuating socioeconomic inequality. Limitations on fee waivers could prevent vulnerable immigrants from regularizing their legal status.
11. Getting T and U visas will be harder
- Proposed Measure: The executive branch can hinder the T and U visa process by tightening approval criteria.
- Potential Impact: The instruction to require “significant material assistance to law enforcement” as an eligibility criterion could make it harder for victims to qualify. With prolonged processing times, this change could lead to the denial of most applications without congressional approval, weakening the effectiveness of these humanitarian visa programs. The T visa is granted to victims of human trafficking, such as sex trafficking or slavery, if the victim assists authorities in their efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers. Meanwhile, the U visa is for victims of certain crimes committed in the U.S. who have helped in the investigation and prosecution of criminal activity. These programs were created to promote public safety for both Americans and immigrants by encouraging victims to report crimes and provide valuable testimony to authorities. Both visas eventually lead to permanent residency.
With a change in the presidential administration, there is always concern about policy changes and their impact on immigration. We do not know what will happen in the 2024 elections, but if you are an undocumented immigrant in the United States, now is the time to try to fix your papers. Many times you will be able to fix your papers without leaving the country. Furthermore, in many cases, once your case is filed, you will be protected from deportation while your case is pending with USCIS.
Call us at 202-709-6439 o click here for a consultation directly with attorney Lauren Eagan.
This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.