Trump’s New Immigration Policy Continues to Build Barriers
Trump’s new proposed rule change would restrict the stay of immigrants who use the healthcare system (Image)
Last week, the Trump administration made a huge step towards cutting immigration to the United States. This time, the president has gone after immigrants seeking to enter the country legally. His policy is aimed at restricting immigrants from staying in the U.S. permanently if they cannot pay for health insurance or medical costs. This unnecessary and harmful tactic will hurt immigrants and furthers Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.
This policy encapsulates the administration’s attempt to limit the number of immigrants coming from lower classes or who have received less education. Requiring immigrants to be able to show proof of their ability to pay or already have health insurance favors those who already have plans offered through their employers; policies like this only make things hard for immigrants to come into the United States. Building barriers to entry and discouraging immigration is contradictory to the American experience.
The Trump Administration continues to promote policies that limit immigration from certain regions and countries. The 2017 Travel Ban, which was supported by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the cutback on refugees accepted are several examples of such policies. While this policy is aimed at economic resources, rather than one’s nation of origin, the effects are the same. Poorer immigrants from outside Europe will have a harder time becoming citizens. Creating a system that controls who can become American is discriminatory and biased. President Trump, via this policy, is blaming immigrants for being unable to provide for themselves before they can avail the opportunities that immigrating to the U.S. can offer.
Under the new policy, when immigrants apply to the United States to stay permanently, they will be asked to prove that they will obtain a health insurance policy within a month of arriving or be able to pay for their own medical expenses. Moreover, these judgements will be made by consular offices. Not much has been released for the logistics of this plan, other than the judgement on the ability to pay may be based on the immigrant’s sponsor. Despite the lack of information on the proposal, this step alone will discriminate against immigrants based on their class. Furthermore, this policy will make it harder for immigrants to come into the United States if they are sponsored by a family member, and it will attempt to limit those coming in through diversity visas. The diversity visa lottery allows in immigrants from countries with lower amounts of immigration to have greater access to Green Cards and later citizenship.
Trump has repeatedly used the immigration issue to gain support from his base and to push for a more nationalist approach in politics; the implementation of this cruel policy is no different. Trump claims that immigrants are burdening the healthcare system and U.S. taxpayers, but the ones that are truly hurt are the immigrants. Policies like this will discourage immigrants from coming into the United States for fear of being denied visas. In addition, immigrants in the U.S. may not enroll in programs put in place to support legal immigrants. This will add to the confusing and complicated hoops immigrants already have to jump through to attain a U.S. citizenship.
The actions of the Trump administration further foster the xenophobic and nationalist ideals of some in the United States. Creating barriers, not just for all immigrants, but to those without certain economic or health resources is a clear indication of who the Trump Administration wants to be American. The policy implies that the United States is a place of opportunity, but only to those who can pay for it and those who do not pose a “threat” to the U.S.
In the past week, several federal courts have blocked Trump’s efforts to limit immigration based on paying for healthcare. This is a step in the right direction and an important aspect of our political system. Even as the current Administration tries to subvert Congress in making these immigration reforms, there are systems in place to protect the rights of immigrants and their place in this country.
This recent news on immigration is crucial to understand the mindset of the Trump administration. Issues around the southern border receive a lot of attention in the press, but the Administration is not only hurting immigrants by locking them in cages. Cutting back on what immigrants and how they U.S. legally could potentially stop hundreds of thousands of hard-working, smart people from coming to the United States.
In 2018, Trump referred to a group of African and Caribbean nations as “shithole countries.” That was not just something the President said, but a belief he is acting on by limiting immigration from those places. Whether overtly or subtly, President Trump and his advisors are moving to make this nation less-friendly to those seeking the American Dream.