In the first year of his second term in 2025, President Trump systematically reshaped the United States’ immigration system through a series of executive orders (EOs) and proclamations. A new article in Race & Class by SIS Professor Tazreena Sajjad argues that these actions shouldn’t be seen as unusual or extreme responses to a unique political moment. Instead, they fit into a long history of exclusionary and race-based immigration policies in the United States.

Sajjad outlines how, rather than a set of unrelated decisions, these measures reflect a consistent approach and help move ideas associated with “Great Replacement” theory from the political fringe into mainstream government practice by embedding them in official policy and administration.

By tracing how current immigration policies connect to earlier ones, Sajjad shows how these executive actions create a sense of logic and continuity across different measures. Using a genealogical reading of policies derived from the current EOs on immigration, the article concludes by considering what these changes could mean for the future of a diverse, multiracial society in the United States.

Read the article here.