A Guide to Immigration Policy Changes in 2025
U.S. immigration continues to be one of the most hotly contested issues on the Hill and in statehouses across the country because it impacts a wide swath of communities in every corner of America.
For more than a decade, high-profile members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans alike – have called for changes to border policy, but disagree on how to get there and what success looks like. As a result, progress toward immigration policy change has been slow and difficult. But for government affairs professionals, tracking legislative and regulatory updates remains a critical task.
So, what is immigration reform? The term simply refers to changes or attempts to change laws related to immigrants and immigration. And while the term was in existence well before 2013 – for instance, the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform ran from 1990 to 1997 – it gained more popularity that year when a bipartisan group of senators called “The Gang of Eight” drafted a major piece of legislation that sought to reform policies around the issue. (The bill ultimately died in the 113th Congress.)
Here, we’ll cover the latest on immigration policy changes, and how trusted and reliable technology can help you develop an effective lobbying and public affairs strategy.
Why is immigration reform important today?
Historically, the U.S. has seen a series of reforms (more on that in the next section), but debate rages on. And as immigrants continue to enter and remain in the country, and participate in the workforce, people on both sides of the aisle are seeking certain outcomes.
For instance, those in favor of pathways to citizenship say immigration reform is necessary, in part, because immigration has long been a source of strength for the country – but especially now, as the youngest baby boomers near retirement age and the workforce continues to age. Meanwhile, those who support the deportations of immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally may want to toughen related laws as they argue in favor of border reform.
That said, no matter which side of the aisle you or your clients are on, government affairs professionals must stay on top of U.S. immigration policies (both proposed and passed) as well as related news on the topic.
Enter Bloomberg Government’s all-in-one platform, which helps public affairs professionals gain access to timely resources, legislative tracking tools, and deep analysis to help them understand the landscape and how immigration reform may impact key business sectors.
Current state of immigration in the United States
The U.S. immigration system that we have today is the result of several major legislative reforms. The first reform of significance was the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which was first codified in 1952 and has been amended significantly several times since, with Congress making these amendments based on new public laws.
Overview of U.S. immigration policies
Immigration reforms in early U.S. history include:
- The 1790 Naturalization Act, which excluded non-white people from having eligibility to naturalize
- 1798’s Alien Friends Act, which authorized the president to imprison or deport any so-called “alien” who was deemed dangerous to the U.S., making it the first act to authorize deportation for immigrants
- The Naturalization Act of 1870, which extended eligibility for naturalization to people of African nativity or descent
- The Immigration Act of 1903, which banned beggars, anarchists, and importers of prostitutes (and was the first U.S. law to restrict immigration based on a person’s political beliefs)
Speeding forward several decades, after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1952, additional reforms include:
- The 1965 amendment to the INA, which ended the national origins quota system that had disproportionately favored European immigrants and set the stage for current immigration policies that focus on the reunification of families and the needs of the nation’s employers
- The Refugee Act of 1980, which adopted the United Nation’s definition of “refugees” and expanded the annual admission of refugees
- The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which created a path to citizenship for people who’d entered the United States without permission before 1982 but also made it illegal for employers to knowingly hire people who are undocumented
- The Immigration Act of 1990, which increased the number of people who could legally immigrate to the U.S. and provided Temporary Protected Status so asylum seekers could stay in the U.S. until conditions in their home countries improved
- The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program created by former President Barack Obama in 2012, which allowed certain young immigrants without status, who were brought to the United States as children, to apply for work authorization permits and protection from immediate deportation. The Trump administration ended DACA in 2017, but the federal courts – including the U.S. Supreme Court – have kept the program in place and the Biden administration published updated regulations in 2022.
U.S. immigration policy today
Today, U.S. immigration policy is governed largely by the Immigration and Nationality Act. This current U.S. policy has two major aspects: the first “facilitates migration flows of foreign nationals into the United States” and the second “focuses on immigration enforcement and removal,” as the U.S. Congress confirms in its primer on immigration policy.
When Congress enacts public laws that affect immigration and nationality, it may amend INA sections or add new sections to the INA, or it may pass laws that do not change the INA, as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has confirmed.
Notably, the U.S. also makes permanent immigration a different issue than temporary immigration, and the executive branch is allowed to “exercise statutory or executive authority to allow certain noncitizens to enter or remain in the United States on a time-limited basis, including those who have not been admitted through permanent or temporary pathways under the INA and might otherwise be subject to removal,” with these pathways including TPS and immigration parole, according to Congress.
And as U.S. immigration laws are carried out by several executive branch departments and agencies, these agencies have authority for immigration enforcement via the INA, including “restricting entry to and removing persons from the United States who lack authorization to be in the country or who have such authorization but have committed acts that make them subject to removal,” according to Congress.
Migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in Juarez, Mexico, in December 2024. Photographer: David Peinado/Bloomberg
Statistics on immigrants and undocumented workers
The history of immigration reform gives important context to today’s U.S. immigration landscape, particularly for the immigrant workforce. For example, in 2023, people who were “foreign born” accounted for 18.6% of the U.S. civilian labor force – up from 18.1% in 2022 – with this group including those who were “legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants,” according to a May 2024 report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
In addition, foreign-born men continued to participate in the labor force at a considerably higher rate in 2023 (77.5%) when compared to their native-born counterparts (66.1%), according to the same BLS report, which noted foreign-born workers, in general, were more likely than native-born workers to be employed in service occupations; natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations; and in production, transportation, and material moving occupations.
And while undocumented immigrants accounted for just 3.3% of the U.S. population, the undocumented workforce represented about 4.8% of the U.S. workforce in 2022, according to a July 2024 report from Pew Research Center.
Furthermore, when it comes to immigration in general (aside from workforce trends), the United States continues to have more immigrants than any other country – with “one-fifth of the world’s international migrants” making their home in the U.S., according to a September 2024 report from Pew Research Center. Reasons for immigration can include poverty, attempts to escape violence, work or educational opportunities, or reunification with family.
During modern times, U.S. immigration also continues to increase. In states including California, Texas, Florida, and New York, immigrants account for about one in five residents, according to a January 2025 Bloomberg news report.
And the “U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 47.8 million in 2023, an increase of 1.6 million from the previous year,” according to the Pew report, which noted that this is the largest annual increase in more than 20 years, since 2000.
Immigration reform proposals for 2025
The proposals for immigration reform in 2025 are related to President Donald Trump’s position on immigration and his calls for “mass deportation,” restrictions on asylum access, and border reform.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. Vice President JD Vance speak to members of the media at the U.S.-Mexico border on March 5, 2025. Photographer: Brenda Bazan/Bloomberg
President Trump’s immigration policy
When it comes to illegal immigration, Trump said in 2018: “Illegal immigration hurts American workers; burdens American taxpayers; and undermines public safety; and places enormous strain on local schools, hospitals, and communities in general, taking precious resources away from the poorest Americans who need them most. Illegal immigration costs our country billions and billions of dollars each year…And I will therefore take every lawful action at my disposal to address this crisis. And that’s what we’re doing.”
During his first term, the Trump administration enacted a series of actions that shifted immigration policy. And when he took office again in January 2025, after campaigning to initiate “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” he rolled out several new executive orders on immigration policy, related to:
- Border policy (detailing that the administration will “marshal all available resources and authorities” to stop illegal immigration, including establishing a physical wall and deploying “sufficient personnel along the southern border of the United States to ensure complete operational control”)
- “Enhanced vetting and screening,” including for visa applicants and foreign nationals seeking admission to the U.S.
- Birthright citizenship (stating that this right does not automatically extend to certain persons born in the United States)
- The U.S.‑Mexico-Canada Agreement (as the order established an “America First Trade Policy”)
- Enforcement policies related to illegal entry (including for those seeking asylum, as this order revoked Biden-era executive orders)
- “Realigning” the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, thereby suspending immigration under this program pending formal reporting, and revoking the 2021 executive order on “Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs To Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration”
As of April 2025, at least one of these orders is facing legal challenges, as Democratic states and immigration groups have put forth numerous legal challenges on the order relating to birthright citizenship, and a federal district court has temporarily blocked the order from taking effect.
But, in the meantime, if these executive orders are enforced and implemented, Trump immigration policy will restructure U.S. immigration policy in meaningful ways to focus mainly on enforcement.
The impact of immigration reform
Immigration policy changes could have implications for the economy and workforce. Immigrants are a core part of the U.S. economy, as they work, spend money, pay taxes, have children, and do other things (like native-born Americans) to keep the economy growing.
Economic and workforce implications
Trump and many of his allies argue that immigrants are lowering wages and taking jobs from native-born Americans. And other critics argue that by creating demand for more goods and services, thereby stimulating the economy, immigration also can add to inflation.
In addition, some Republicans have argued the recent immigration surge worsened the cost-of-living crisis, with Vice President JD Vance claiming undocumented immigrants are to blame for a “totally unaffordable” housing market.
Some research supports the idea that an immigration surge could translate into higher housing costs, according to January 2025 reporting from Bloomberg, noting that while economists from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) see the surge having little overall impact on inflation in the next decade, they say the “greatest upward pressure” will come from higher housing demand.
In addition, because state and local governments tend to be responsible for basic services, a surge in immigration often raises their spending more than their revenues. For example, a 2024 CBO report found that the revenue local governments raised from newly arrived immigrants paying state income and property taxes is typically less than the education and health-care costs incurred.
Meanwhile, those on the other side of the issue have noted several economic benefits of immigration. For example, a 2017 report on the economic and fiscal consequences of immigration from the National Academy of Sciences concluded “that immigration has an overall positive impact on long-run economic growth in the U.S.” And while first-generation immigrants “are more costly to governments than are the native-born,” the report concluded that “the second generation are among the strongest fiscal and economic contributors in the U.S.”
Federal Reserve officials have continuously cited immigration as a key contributor to an overall rise in the number of available workers, with Chair Jerome Powell saying part of the reason why the economy has often beat expectations is because the U.S. has been “getting that supply.”
Immigrants also have been a key part of U.S. innovation: Although they are only about 16% of the country’s inventors, immigrants have been responsible for more than a third of the new patents registered in the U.S. in the past three decades, particularly in the technology, medical, and chemical industries, according to National Bureau of Economic Research economists.
Foreign-born workers are more likely to work in sectors where demand for workers often outpaces the native-born supply. Sectors that employ the most foreign-born workers include construction, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance, and food preparation and serving, per 2023 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
If immigration reform policies to reduce immigration are carried out, some proponents of immigration have raised concerns about severe employment disruptions in industries such as agriculture, construction, and hospitality.
And while it’s unclear what the overall economic fallout of mass deportations could be, President Trump’s plan could be costly in the short term and long term. For example, deporting 11 million unauthorized immigrants – the estimated total in the U.S. as of 2022 – would cost more than $150 billion, with an additional $15 billion per year needed to maintain border security, according to the pro-immigration think tank National Immigration Forum.
And analysis by the Peterson Institute of International Economics found that expelling the country’s estimated 8.3 million unauthorized immigrant workers (as of 2022) would mean that, at best, the U.S. would see no economic growth through Trump’s second term – with negative effects potentially including declines in U.S. GDP.
Social and cultural effects
Detractors may argue that immigration has the potential to change a host society’s cultural traditions, causing harm to its cultural identity. Plus, immigrants themselves can face pressure to assimilate, along with the loss of cultural norms, religious customs, and social support systems.
That said, positive effects of immigration can include the broadening of U.S. culture, including an expansion of the foods we eat, the music we listen to, and the books we read. And the linguistic versatility that has evolved from immigration can help improve understanding among people of different cultures.
From a demographic perspective, immigration has helped revitalize many communities – including those that are rural – by slowing population loss, and sometimes by helping the population to grow.
Navigating immigration policy changes with ease
In general, navigating the policy landscape can be overwhelming, and tracking immigration policy reform is no different. As legislation and regulation evolve across multiple jurisdictions, it’s crucial for government affairs professionals to stay up to date on new developments.
How can busy teams efficiently follow legislative news and actions on a daily and weekly basis, while still managing their other government affairs work? By leveraging the power of technology.
Bloomberg Government’s all-in-one government affairs platform delivers nonpartisan coverage on federal and state issues, in-depth analysis, and a range of tools that enable you to identify opportunities swiftly. We deliver everything government affairs professionals need to navigate policy making and drive their organizations’ and clients’ goals forward.
Watch how Bloomberg Government makes it easy to track federal and state legislation and regulations, so you’ll always have the latest details to inform your strategy.
You can stay ahead of policy shifts – especially crucial in today’s fast-moving environment – by accessing our comprehensive news and analysis to understand the implications of ongoing policy shifts during Trump’s second term, so you can adapt and respond effectively.
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