World Immigration News

What is the Immigration Act of 1952 and why do Trump officials keep talking about it?

Release Date: 2025-03-13
Media: AP News
Summary: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act, serves as the foundation of modern U.S. immigration law. The Trump administration frequently cited this law to justify immigration crackdowns, such as the arrest and planned deportation of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident with a green card. The law grants the U.S. government the authority to revoke visas or green cards from individuals deemed adversarial to U.S. foreign policy or national security.

The law has been invoked in various contexts, including the travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries and a policy requiring undocumented immigrants to register with the government. Under the Biden administration, the law’s humanitarian parole provision has been used more than ever to temporarily admit people for urgent humanitarian reasons, although Trump’s administration faced a lawsuit for ending this long-standing legal tool.
Tags: USA

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