What specific policies did the Biden administration implement on immigration and border security?

1. Reversals of Trump-era policies and day-one executive orders

On his first days in office the president revoked several Trump priorities and issued executive orders to review and rescind agency actions that impeded access to immigration benefits, reinstated protections for Dreamers, and directed DHS to set new enforcement priorities and pause certain removals for an initial period (including a 100‑day pause on some deportations) ^{[4] [1] [5]}. The administration also halted new enrollments in the Migrant Protection Protocols (“Remain in Mexico”) and created a task force to reunite families separated under the prior administration, signaling an early focus on undoing specific prior policies ^{[1] [6]}.

2. Expanding lawful pathways and humanitarian protections

The administration expanded Temporary Protected Status for nationals from countries including Venezuela and Myanmar, extended TPS for multiple countries, increased refugee admissions goals, and launched humanitarian parole programs to admit people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela as alternatives to irregular entry ^{[2] [5]}. These measures sought to create legal routes for at‑risk populations and ease pressure on asylum processes at the border ^{[6] [2]}.

3. Management reforms, administrative modernization and immigration-system investments

Across hundreds of executive actions the administration moved to modernize immigration adjudications, review fee and rule changes that limited access to benefits, and push for more asylum processing capacity and coordination among DHS, State, Justice and regional partners to address root causes in Central America ^{[7] [4] [6]}. Agencies emphasized increasing personnel, technology and coordination while urging Congress for statutory solutions that executive action cannot fully deliver ^{[3] [4]}.

4. Enforcement adjustments, surges and expedited removals

Facing record irregular arrivals, the administration repeatedly surged Border Patrol and immigration personnel, increased referrals to expedited removal, and reported high numbers of returns and removals in some years—moves framed by the White House as necessary to restore operational control while Congress remained deadlocked on legislative fixes ^[3]. Critics argue these moves sometimes mirrored restrictive Trump-era tactics; supporters say they balanced humanitarian and enforcement priorities ^{[3] [8]}.

5. Use of emergency authorities to limit asylum and restrict entry

When border encounters surged, the president invoked a proclamation and accompanying interim and final rules limiting asylum eligibility for those who cross unlawfully and authorizing temporary suspension of entry during high encounters—steps the administration credited with sharp declines in border encounters and portrayed as tools to regain leverage in the absence of new laws ^{[9] [3]}. Opponents and some immigrant-rights advocates raise due‑process and legal concerns about restricting asylum ^{[9] [8]}.

6. Political backlash, litigation, and mixed legacy

The administration’s prolific use of executive and regulatory action—reportedly hundreds of immigration actions over the first years—produced mixed results: supporters point to restored legal pathways and system improvements, while critics from both parties claim the policies either invited more irregular migration or borrowed too heavily from prior restrictive playbooks; litigation and state-level pushback frequently constrained implementation ^{[7] [8] [10]}. Reporting indicates the administration repeatedly warned that executive measures could not substitute for comprehensive congressional reform ^{[3] [4]}.