Lately, one of the most popular topics on social media is Project 2025. With November’s presidential election approaching, many users have expressed concern with what would be the policy playbook for a second Trump administration.

This $22 million project presented by the Heritage Foundation, while not specifically designed for Trump, wants the next president to be a conservative. That is why, in this context of uncertainty and polarization, we have to understand what exactly this project consists of and what its implications could be for U.S. immigration policy and the lives of millions of people in the country.

The proposals outlined in Project 2025 represent a significant departure from traditional conservative priorities on immigration. Rather than promoting merit-based immigration, encouraging assimilation, and improving domestic enforcement, these measures are designed to dismantle the existing immigration system, negatively affecting U.S. prosperity and security and weakening the vitality of its workforce with long-term consequences for future generations.

In this article, we will explore in detail the content of Project 2025 and discuss how it could impact the nation’s political and social landscape in the coming years, specifically with the issue of immigration.

What does Project 2025 consist of?

This is not the first time the Heritage Foundation has launched such a plan. For more than 40 years they have published different versions of their “Mandate for Leadership” detailing recommendations and plans for the next Republican administration.

The Foundation boasts a high success rate: the Trump administration implemented nearly 64% of its recommendations within the first year.

“Project 2025” brings together the work of more than 400 conservative scholars who are drawing up a plan for a second Trump administration. The document covers all policy areas, spelling out how a new Trump administration will dismantle the U.S. immigration system and how those changes will impact jobs, housing, education, transportation, and commerce for both immigrants and Americans.

In addition, they clarify how the administration would stop legal immigration, centralize power in the federal government, eliminate privacy protections, and put American security and prosperity at risk, all because of a political obsession with immigration.

Main Proposals and Measures

The impacts of Project 2025 on immigration would be far more complex and destructive than previously reported. This is not simply a renewal of ideas from Trump’s first term.

Instead, it reflects a detailed and comprehensive plan to minimize immigration levels and increase the power of the federal government in each state. These proposals do not have to go through Congress or the courts and are specifically designed to dismantle the foundations of the immigration system.

1. Reduction of Federal Financial Support to Students

• Proposed Measure: The plan suggests blocking federal financial aid for about two-thirds of U.S. college students if the state in which they reside allows certain groups of immigrants, including Dreamers (DACA recipients) with legal status, to access in-state tuition.
• Potential Impact: This measure could deter states from offering in-state tuition to Dreamers and other immigrants, as the loss of federal funding could have a significant impact on the finances of state universities. This would affect accessibility to higher education for millions of American students.

2. Elimination of Legal Status of Dreamers

• Proposed Measure: Terminate the legal status of 500,000 Dreamers by reassigning the time of staff reviewing and processing renewal applications, which would result in delays and possible status expirations.

• Potential Impact: Eliminating legal status would leave many Dreamers vulnerable to deportation and lose access to educational and employment opportunities. In addition, local communities and the economy could be negatively impacted by the loss of these active contributors. At Eagan, we have been able to help some DACA recipients get on track toward obtaining their permanent residency through EB 2-NIW, but currently, most DACA recipients rely on these renewals to stay in the country because there is no clear path to citizenship.

4. Suspension of Immigration Applications

• Proposed Measure: Use backlog numbers to order the automatic suspension of receipt of applications for immigration categories that have a large backlog of cases.
• Potential Impact: This measure could lead to a freeze on the receipt of new applications, increasing existing backlogs and making it more difficult for family reunification and skilled workers to enter.

5. Suspension of Temporary Visa Updates

• Proposed Action: Suspend updates to the annual lists of countries eligible for H-2A and H-2B temporary visas, excluding most populations that fill critical vacancies in sectors such as agriculture, construction, hospitality, and forestry.
• Potential Impact: The suspension of these updates would limit access to essential temporary workers, which could lead to labor shortages in key sectors of the economy, increasing operating costs and product prices.

6. Restriction of Housing Subsidies

• Proposed Measure: Prohibit U.S. citizens from qualifying for federal housing subsidies if they live with someone who is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
• Potential Impact: This restriction could increase housing insecurity among blended families, exacerbating social and economic problems for those U.S. citizens who rely on these subsidies to access safe and affordable housing.

7. Disclosure of Information by States

• Proposed Measure: Force states to share driver’s license and taxpayer identification information with federal authorities or risk losing funding.
• Potential Impact: The measure could pressure states to cooperate with federal authorities in identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants, increasing surveillance and fear among immigrant communities. It could also lead to litigation between states and the federal government.

8. Immediate Deportation of Rejected Visa Applicants and Beneficiaries

• Proposed Action: Implement immediate deportation of those who have their visa applications denied, as well as beneficiaries who do not qualify for legal status.
• Potential Impact: This policy would expedite the deportation of immigrants whose cases are not approved, significantly reducing the length of time these individuals can stay in the country and increasing the burden on the immigration and deportation systems.

9. Work Permit

• Proposed Measure: Restrict work authorization for certain immigrant groups, including asylum seekers and those with TPS (Temporary Protected Status).
• Potential Impact: Limiting work authorization would affect the ability of these immigrants to support themselves and their families, increasing their vulnerability and dependence on welfare systems.

10. Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

• Proposed Measure: Reduce the scope of TPS and limit its renewal, affecting immigrants from countries with humanitarian crises.
• Potential Impact: The reduction of TPS would force many beneficiaries to return to unstable or dangerous countries, putting their safety and well-being at risk. This would affect your eligibility to continue renewing your TPS, live and work in the U.S., or to remain in the country. It could also destabilize communities in the U.S. that benefit from the presence and contribution of these immigrants. Currently this is the list of countries with TPS:

1. Afghanistan
2. Burma (Myanmar)
3. Cameroon
4. El Salvador
5. Ethiopia
6. Haiti
7. Honduras
8. Nepal
9. Nicaragua
10. Somalia
11. Sudan
12. South Sudan
13. Syria
14. Ukraine
15. Venezuela
16. Yemen

11. Increased Application Fees and Limited Payment Waivers

• Proposed Measure: Significantly increase application fees for various immigration processes and limit fee waivers for those who cannot pay.
• Potential Impact: Fee increases would make it harder for low-income people to access immigration processes, creating additional barriers and perpetuating socioeconomic inequality. Limitations on fee waivers could prevent vulnerable immigrants from regularizing their legal status.

12. Obtaining T and U visas will be more difficult:

• Proposed Measure: The executive branch may hinder the T and U visa process by tightening approval criteria.
• Potential Impact: The instruction to require “significant material assistance to law enforcement” as an eligibility criterion could make it difficult for victims to qualify. With lengthy processing times, this change could lead to the denial of most applications without congressional approval, weakening the effectiveness of these humanitarian visa programs. The T visa is granted to victims of human trafficking, such as sex trafficking or slavery, if the victim assists authorities in their efforts to investigate and prosecute traffickers. Meanwhile, the U visa is for victims of certain crimes committed in the U.S. who have aided in the investigation and prosecution of criminal activity. These programs were created to promote public safety for both Americans and immigrants, encouraging victims to report crimes and provide valuable testimony to authorities. Both visas eventually lead to permanent residency.

With a change in the presidential administration, there is always concern about policy changes and their impact on immigration. We don’t know what will happen in the 2024 election, but if you’re an undocumented immigrant in the United States, now is the time to try to fix your papers. Many times you will be able to arrange your papers without leaving the country. Additionally, in many cases, once your case is filed, you will be protected from deportation while your case is pending with USCIS.

To see if you have a chance to fix your paperwork, schedule your free, in-depth case evaluation with us here, or call us at 202-709-6439.