Trump policies affect immigrants

 

President Donald Trump’s administration has come with legislation and proclamation that affects immigrants in the United States putting fear in these communities, according to a UTRGV assistant professor.

The Rider tried to contact the U.S. Reps. Monica de la Cruz (R-Texas) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) for more information about the current U.S. status on immigration and how it affects the community. As of press time Friday, they were not available for comment.

Alvaro Corral, a UTRGV political science assistant professor, in an interview with The Rider, explained the current status of bills and acts related to immigration and how it affects the community.

One Beautiful Bill Act 

According to the U.S. Congress website, the H.R. 1 One Beautiful Bill Act passed on July 4. The act reduces taxes, reduces or increases spending for various federal programs, increases the statutory debt limit, and otherwise addresses agencies and programs throughout the federal government.

Corral said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act extended President Trump’s original tax cuts, passed during his first term in 2017, that were set to expire.

He added there is controversy in the way the government has decided to pay those tax cuts.

“Of course, giving very generous tax cuts means that the federal government is hurting its revenue streams,” Corral said.

He said another portion of the bill, besides the tax cuts, is to build up financing for the immigration enforcement industrial complex.

“So, everything from increasing historic funding for [Immigration Customs Enforcement] and other departments of [the Department Homeland Security] and Customs and Border Protection, [and] Border Patrol,” Corral said.

This bill has the potential to create and fund the level of personnel in these agencies to carry out the President Trump administration’s mass deportation plan, according to the assistant professor.

“We’ve been seeing that over the last couple of months, to ramp up immigration enforcement in the interior of the country … especially Los Angeles, Southern California and selected cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. … requires a level of manpower that would be very costly” he said.

Texas Dream Act

In 2001, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1403, also known as the Texas DREAM Act, which extends in-state tuition and grants eligibility to non-citizen residents of the state.

Corral said, over the summer, the U.S. Department of Justice repealed the act on June 4.

“With that ending, I think higher education has suddenly become out of reach for the many thousands of undocumented students that call Texas home,” he said. 

According to Corral, the ending of the act has potential effects for colleges and universities, such as UTRGV.

Fees on H-1B Visas

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, on Sept. 19, President Trump signed a Proclamation, “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.”

This proclamation requires a $100,000 payment to accompany any new H-1B visa petitions, according to the website.

Corral said there is going to be quite a change in hiring because businesses will think about hiring someone and pay a $100,000 fee to the U.S. government.

He said there is evidence of affecting UTRGV’s ability to recruit and retain international students.

“International students are quite the source of revenue for universities because these students tend to pay higher tuition rates because they’re not in-state tuition residents,” Corral said. “And suddenly … a very quick decline in that student population hurts the revenue streams of universities.”

How has this affected immigrant communities?

Corral said immigrant communities across the country are feeling “incredibly scared” at the prospect of being detained and questioned and ultimately deported by the Trump administration.

He said there are cases where immigrants are detained in immigration detention facilities that have reports of “very negative and deteriorating” conditions with no access to legal counsel.

 “For immigrants to sort of fight their deportation in court, many of them are being prevented from meeting with their legal councils,” Corral said. “… So, lawyers can’t literally access their clients.” 

He said, locally, there are reports of businesses in areas like downtown McAllen and downtown Harlingen struggling because there is fear of ICE and Border Patrol activity.

“That’s really put a sort of chill on workers who wish to just go to work and go about their daily lives in peace, so I think it’s been just an incredible level of fear that has taken hold within many immigrant communities,” the assistant professor said.

Stop Illegal Entry Act of 2025

According to the U.S. Congress website, the H.R. 3496 Stop Illegal Entry Act of 2025, passed by the House on Sept. 11, establishes or increases criminal penalties for certain non-U.S. nationals who illegally enter the United States.

“The bill establishes a mandatory minimum prison term of 5 years and allows a life sentence for an individual who (1) improperly enters, or attempts to improperly enter, the United States; and (2) is subsequently convicted of a felony,” according to the website.

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