January 2026 marked the completion of President Trump’s first year of his second term in the White House. While the year was filled with new initiatives, Trump’s focus on immigration is perhaps the most consequential, not just because of the protests it has sparked but also because of the legal questions it has raised. Over the year, immigration law has been reshaped less through new legislation than through changes in enforcement priorities, executive interpretation, and administrative practice. The result has been a meaningful shift in how immigration law functions in daily practice – and in how often it intersects with legal work well outside the traditional immigration context.
For lawyers, the central lesson of the past year is not simply that immigration law has become more complex, but that it has become more integrated into the broader legal and regulatory landscape. Immigration considerations now influence decisions in corporate governance, criminal defense, family law, education, health care and finance.
What defined the administration’s first year was not comprehensive statutory reform, but the assertive use of executive authority and administrative discretion. Federal agencies emphasized enforcement, reassessed discretionary programs, and started to coordinate more closely across departments. Longstanding statutory provisions – particularly those granting the executive branch broad authority over entry and enforcement – were interpreted expansively, prompting...
Singapore’s consumer watchdog has flagged three online retailers for using “dark patterns” including fake countdowns, false scarcity claims and fabricated visitor numbers to pressure shoppers into ...