Weaponizing the US–Mexico BorderTrump’s Use of Executive Power to Dismantle Asylum Protections, 2017-2021

بادي ريمة,

Article Details

Weaponizing the US–Mexico BorderTrump’s Use of Executive Power to Dismantle Asylum Protections, 2017-2021

Authors:

بادي ريمة,

Publisher:

Centre Universitaire de Barika

Journal:

مجلة طبنـــة للدراسات العلمية الأكاديمية Vol.8 Issue 2, pp.1784-1800

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001612131

pISSN:

2716-8883

Keywords:

Abstract:

 This paper examines how Trump’s first administration weaponized executive power to undermine U.S. asylum protections, turning them into tools of political deterrence. The study utilizes the concept of “weaponization of borders” to analyze the link between rhetoric, policy, and practice. It also highlights significant measures including the Migrant Protection Protocols, transit bans, family separation under the Zero Tolerance policy, and Title 42 expulsions. It also examines how anti-immigrant rhetoric and security-based framing were turned into concrete executive actions that weakened protections under U.S. and international refugee law. A mixed-methods approach combines qualitative analysis of executive orders and policy documents with quantitative analysis of migration and asylum data. The findings indicate that these actions weakened legal protections, worsened humanitarian conditions, and limited access to asylum. The study concludes that the administration’s asylum policy represented a deliberate transition from humanitarian protection to deterrence, with lasting legal, humanitarian, and global ramifications for refugee protection.

Article Details

Weaponizing the US–Mexico BorderTrump’s Use of Executive Power to Dismantle Asylum Protections, 2017-2021

Authors:

بادي ريمة,

Publisher:

Centre Universitaire de Barika

Journal:

مجلة طبنـــة للدراسات العلمية الأكاديمية Vol.8 Issue 2, pp.1784-1800

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001612131

pISSN:

2716-8883

Asylum Policy

Executive Power

Weaponization of Borders

Deterrence

US-Mexico Border

Trump’s First Administration

Issues

Article Details

Weaponizing the US–Mexico BorderTrump’s Use of Executive Power to Dismantle Asylum Protections, 2017-2021

Authors: بادي ريمة,

Publisher: Centre Universitaire de Barika

Journal: مجلة طبنـــة للدراسات العلمية الأكاديمية Vol.8 Issue 2, pp.1784-1800

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 12/2025

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001612131

pISSN: 2716-8883

Asylum Policy

Executive Power

Weaponization of Borders

Deterrence

US-Mexico Border

Trump’s First Administration

Issues

Authors:

بادي ريمة,

Publisher:

Centre Universitaire de Barika

Journal:

مجلة طبنـــة للدراسات العلمية الأكاديمية Vol.8 Issue 2, pp.1784-1800

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001612131

pISSN:

2716-8883