Trump's policies spark fears for immigrants and minority rights

Hours after taking office, US president Donald Trump signed into law policies touching on human rights including a crackdown on immigration, freedom of speech and rights on minority groups.

President Trump repealed a government policy that allowed irregular migrants to enter the US soil by declaring a national emergency at the Southern border and tasked the US military with aiding border security.

“All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” said Trump.

He added, “We will reinstate my remain-in-Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch-and-release, and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.” The new policy deals a big blow to asylum seekers.

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Trump has consistently taken a strong stance on immigration, emphasizing the need for strict border control and enforcement of immigration laws.

Throughout his political career, he framed illegal immigration as a critical issue, advocating for measures to prevent illegal border crossings, reduce the number of undocumented immigrants, and prioritize the security of the US border.

He argues that it would help reduce illegal immigration, human trafficking, and drug smuggling.

Merit-based immigration

The new rules reflect his focus on limiting legal immigration through reforms to the asylum system and the prioritization of merit-based immigration, which would favor high-skilled workers over family reunification-based immigration.

“Globally the movement of people has been facilitated by many factors, not just for looking for opportunities like advancement in business in terms of technology, but also now it is a global movement. The current trend should be for facilitating a movement not containing people,” said Kamau Ngugi, executive director for Defenders Coalition.

Ngugi added, “I think our bigger concern is when such kind of rhetoric tends to target racialized groups, mostly the blacks and Hispanics.”

Additionally, the US president signed an executive order restricting automatic citizenship for children born on US soil by ending birthright citizenship.This means that anyone born on American soil will not automatically be recognised as a US citizen.

Consequently, children of undocumented migrants living in the US will no longer be considered US citizens.

President Trump instructed federal agencies to stop issuing documentation to children born in the US to parents who are in the country illegally or on temporary visas, which could effectively deny them access to public services

US-based human rights groups argue that the decision is not only unconstitutional, but it is also reckless and that it negates American values.

In his stand on sexuality, Trump said his administration would end the government policy of “trying to engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”

On the question of environmental justice, Ngugi termed it as a populist stance whereas the reality shows extreme climate change effects globally.

Katiba Institute Executive Director Nora Mbagathi said, “We are yet to see the impact that this second Trump presidency will have on human rights domestically in the US but we know that policies set by his administration will have a spill-over effect globally, and so too, here in Kenya.”