Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States became defensive and developed a mistrust for all foreigners. This mistrust led to a widespread immigration crackdown in the 21st century that has changed the social and political landscape of the United States over the past two decades.

 

In 2001, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch proposed the first Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors or DREAM Act. This act would provide a legal pathway to U.S. citizenship for illegal immigrants that were brought to the United States by their parents as children.

 

The Dream act and all subsequent iterations of it were shut down beginning a series of repressive immigration legislation to the United States. These Dreamers saw a slight reprieve in 2012 when President Obama signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA Act. This act protected some dreamers from deportation, but it did not prove a path to citizenship.

 

The immigration policies tightened again under the Trump administration. Shortly after he took office in 2017, President Trump signed a series of three executive orders placing travel and immigration bans from majority museum countries. These actions have built upon each other to create a hostile political environment that continues to this day.