A helpful overview of how immigration in the United States works.

Obama unsuccessfully pleads for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, then uses executive action to deport record numbers of people while safeguarding protections for Dreamers.

Trump turns immigration into a national security issue, rallying support for a border wall and making legal immigration more difficult.

Biden reverses most of Trump 1.0's policies, dramatically increasing humanitarian programs, but cracks down on border and asylum processing in 2024.

Trump reinstates all policies from his first term, plus more, ending humanitarian programs and directing ICE to detain and deport anyone without firm legal status.