On Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2025, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social his intention to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” in response to the National Guard shooting two days earlier. The announcement, using terminology widely considered …
Donald TrumpJoseph EdlowDepartment of Homeland SecurityUSCISCouncil on American-Islamic Relations+2 moreimmigrationracismcivil-rightsexecutive-powerrefugees+5 more
Edward Snowden boarded an Aeroflot commercial flight from Hong Kong to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on June 23, 2013, accompanied by Sarah Harrison of WikiLeaks, just days after the U.S. filed espionage charges and requested his extradition. The Hong Kong government allowed Snowden to leave …
Edward SnowdenWikiLeaksSarah HarrisonHong Kong governmentState Departmentedward-snowdenasyluminternational-relationshong-kongrussia+1 more
President Ronald Reagan issues Executive Order 12324, authorizing the U.S. Coast Guard to interdict vessels carrying undocumented migrants in international waters and return passengers to their country of origin without asylum screening. Though framed neutrally, the order specifically targets …
Ronald ReaganU.S. Coast GuardImmigration and Naturalization ServiceJean-Claude DuvalierDepartment of Stateimmigrationasylumracisminterdictiondetention+1 more
Between April and October 1980, approximately 125,000 Cubans flee to the United States in the Mariel Boatlift after Fidel Castro opens the port of Mariel to emigration. Simultaneously, thousands of Haitians fleeing the brutal Duvalier dictatorship arrive in Florida by boat, creating a natural …
Jimmy CarterFidel CastroCuban refugeesHaitian refugeesImmigration and Naturalization Service+1 moreimmigrationrefugee-policyracismdetentioncold-war+1 more
President Jimmy Carter signs the Refugee Act of 1980, the first comprehensive reform of U.S. refugee policy since the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The legislation adopts the United Nations definition of refugee as anyone with a “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race, …
Jimmy CarterEdward KennedyU.S. CongressUnited Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesDepartment of Stateimmigrationrefugee-policyasylumcold-warinstitutional-capture