Biden’s Mixed Immigration Legacy: Border Challenges Overshadowed Modernization Advances

The Biden administration has advanced 605 immigration-related executive actions during its four years in office, well outpacing the 472 actions undertaken during the first Trump administration — which had been deemed the most activist yet on immigration, according to a Migration Policy Institute analysis out today.

While the Biden team entered office with plans to legalize most of the estimated 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants and rebuild legal immigration and refugee resettlement systems that had atrophied during the pandemic and Trump cuts, the administration spent most of its term challenged by high levels of unauthorized arrivals of migrants at the U.S./Mexico border. The border became a political lightning rod, with immigration a key issue in the 2024 election campaigns.

As the administration enters its final weeks, MPI analysts assess the administration’s legacy in the Migration Information Source. Check it out.

KJ