Christabel Okoroafor, Anushka Pandey, Natalie Joseph, Ceren Kale, Akshara Shukla, Chibudom Ironuru
ABSTRACT
Migration is a fundamental aspect of human history, driven by the search for survival, security, and opportunity. From the earliest movements out of East Africa to contemporary global flows, migration patterns have always reflected deeply embedded political, economic, and environmental dynamics. In the modern era, migration is shaped by “push” factors such as conflict, poverty, and climate change, and “pull” factors like economic opportunity and safety. However, these movements are not merely personal choices, they symbolize persistent global inequalities, particularly between the Global North and South. Statistics reveal that while 37% of migration occurs between Southern nations, corridors such as Mexico–U.S. and Africa–Europe underscore the influence of geopolitical alliances, policy disparities, and entrenched systemic inequalities.
The study of U.S. migration policy offers a powerful lens into these broader forces. Recent years have witnessed profound shifts, especially under the Trump administration, which implemented sweeping rollbacks on humanitarian protections. Policies like the “Zero-Tolerance” family separation initiative, the “Remain in Mexico” protocol, travel bans targeting Muslim-majority and African countries, and narrowing of asylum eligibility marked a stark departure from prior commitments to refugee and asylum rights. These measures resulted in widespread family separation, increased deportations, and fueled an atmosphere of fear and exclusion for migrants and asylum seekers.
Moreover, the Trump administration’s approach has had long-term reverberations, weeakening institutional capacity, fueling backlogs, and politicizing immigration agencies. Even as the Biden administration has attempted to reverse some of these policies, structural barriers and the legacy of enforcement-first strategies persist, complicating efforts toward humane migration justice and reform. The implications extend beyond the U.S., altering global attitudes and contributing to a backlash against multilateral cooperation on migration issues. As migration remains a key site of contestation and negotiation, achieving genuine change will require not just policy reversal but structural transformation to address the deep-rooted inequalities, uphold human rights, and rebuild trust in migration governance.
