"From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it's going to be only America first". As Donald Trump delivered his nationalistic inaugural speech on Friday, he made it clear that the United States will come first in all of his policy decisions over the coming months and years. Trump's rhetoric certainly doesn't bode well for the country's immigrants and his administration is expected to increase deportations and end protection for young undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children.
The last point refers to the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), something Trump has pledged to abolish on his first day in office. DACA provides temporary protection and work permits to 750,000 young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Refugees fleeing war-ravaged countries in the Middle East can also bid farewell to any chance they might have had in reaching American shores. In fiscal year 2016, 12,587 Syrian refugees were admitted to the U.S. (out of a grand total of 84,995 refugees) and this will more than likely fall to zero under President Trump.
Even though Trump has pledged to make America great again, it can be argued that his aggressive crackdown on immigrants will erode some core American values. Throughout its history, the U.S. has shown intiative and leadership in welcoming immigrants from all across the world. The map below was compiled with data from Pew Research and it shows just how multicultural the U.S. has become. In 2015, 46,630,000 people living in the U.S. were born in other countries.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
