Abstract
In the past three years, the Trump administration has taken unprecedented actions to slow the flow of refugees to the United States and undermine the foundations of the world’s largest refugee resettlement system. This article considers both the empirical substance of the White House’s anti-refugee policies, as well as their broader theoretical significance as a critical example of the Trump administration’s so-called “administrative deconstruction” agenda. Analyzing refugee policy as a theory-building case study, this article advances a novel argument reframing the administration’s actions through the lens of strategic disruption. Short of systemically deconstructing targeted programs, I contend that the Trump administration is engaged in an improvisational and deliberately antagonistic campaign to upend existing policies for the sake of disruption itself. Ultimately, Trump’s open disregard for established laws and conventions is a distinguishing feature of the administration’s approach, which limits its ability to implement lasting and legally binding change. In the case of refugee resettlement, this approach has produced a series of temporary and highly controversial policies, which have done measurable harm to refugees and humanitarian aid organizations. However, the legal and institutional foundations of the resettlement system remain firmly intact.
Highlights
Since assuming office in January 2017, the Trump administration has gone to great lengths to curb refugee arrivals in the United States and rewrite U.S refugee policy
This study investigates the substance of recent changes to the U.S refugee program: How has the Trump administration altered the policies and institutional processes governing refugee assistance? What types of changes have been made, and how have they impacted the resettlement system? While scholars have examined key aspects of the Trump administration’s anti-refugee actions, this is the first study to consider the full scope of changes to the
The Trump administration has vocally rejected the normative foundations of U.S refugee assistance, issued a series of damaging executive orders and policy directives, and deliberately obstructed the bureaucratic actors and institutions that make resettlement possible
Summary
Since assuming office in January 2017, the Trump administration has gone to great lengths to curb refugee arrivals in the United States and rewrite U.S refugee policy. In a few short years, the Trump administration has brought the world’s largest and most important refugee resettlement program to a near standstill. This about-face in refugee policy is significant for a number of reasons. The Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the USRAP program threaten the welfare of refugees, they weaken the social and economic fabric of host communities and undermine the international standing of the United States and its allies
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