Think the new immigration bill is just more political talk? Not quite.

In this week’s episode, Rosanna Berardi breaks down the “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed on July 4th, 2025, and explains what it really means for immigrants, green card holders, and anyone following U.S. immigration. From big funding increases for ICE to faster deportations and higher visa fees, Rosanna shares what’s changing and what you actually need to know. It’s a clear, honest look at how this new law could affect real people – and why staying informed matters now more than ever.

Listen to the Episode

Watch the Episode

 

Transcript

Everyone’s talking about U.S. immigration law, but nobody really knows how it works. I’m Rosanna Berardi. I’m the daughter of an immigrant, a former immigration inspector at the border, university professor, and founder and managing partner of Berardi Immigration Law.

I’ve done nothing but U.S. immigration law for over 30 years, and it’s time to stop the misinformation on all sides. I’m going to tell you how it all works, the inside story. This is Immigration Weekly with Rosanna Berardi.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Immigration Weekly with yours truly, Rosanna Berardi. Hope you’re having a great day, great summer. Hard to believe the year is half over.

Yikes. Lots going on. Let’s talk about the one big beautiful bill.

What’s in the One Big Beautiful Bill?

Signed by the president on July 4th, 2025. I don’t think that date was done per chance. The big beautiful bill.

What does it mean for immigration? Well, some are calling it a historic overhaul of the U.S. policy, and, you know, what I want to talk about today is how does it affect immigrants, green card holders, citizenship applications? What does it really mean for U.S. immigration? I mean, we know the Trump administration has been fixated on immigration. Remember, they campaigned, they won on that issue specifically. So the one big beautiful bill.

It has been praised as a way to restore order at the border and strengthen national security. Now, please note the bill contains lots and lots of provisions. I’m only speaking on the ones pertaining to immigration.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the people that enforce the immigration law in the United States, are calling it a historic tool. Why? Well, let’s talk about Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They are the people in the United States that if you’re here unlawfully, undocumented, they arrest you. They’re basically the immigration police of the United States. So why are they happy with this?

Well, first of all, they’re getting a ton of money. Massive funding increase over a hundred billion, with a B, billion is allocated to the agency until 2029, making it the largest federal law enforcement agency. Yikes.

30 billion of that is going to be going for hiring, training, technology updates. So ICE is going to have a lot more depth and breadth in the United States. Is this a good thing?

Depends. Along with this massive funding, they’re also getting an expansion of power. Now, under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996, the last time Congress touched it, and by the way, bravo, kudos to Congress for doing something.

Not a huge fan, but nonetheless. In 1996, Congress created something called expedited removal. And what does that mean?

That means if you’re in the United States unlawfully, or if you try to enter the United States and commit fraud or misrepresentation, you can get an expedited removal order, which depending on the reason for it, can either be a lifetime ban or a five or 10 year ban. Now, why the big deal? Who cares?

There’s no due process with expedited removal. So if you were picked up in the United States and you’re here unlawfully and the government found out that you had a criminal charge for, let’s say, robbery or burglary, you are entitled to go through a due process system. You would go to immigration court, you would go to criminal court, there’d be a lot of court appearances.

Expedited removal, nope, no due process, no courts. When this came out in 1996, some 30 years ago, it was controversial. What did the One Big Beautiful Bill do?

It made it a little bit more expanded in terms of the ICE’s ability to remove people through expedited removal. The ICE officers now have broader authority to deport individuals quickly. No court hearings under certain conditions.

So this has been a long-standing tenant of U.S. immigration law for almost 30 years. The Big Beautiful Bill upped it, gave the government a little bit more power. So expedited removal has been used in limited scope, could be way more common, affecting people that have overstayed or have entered unlawfully.

What It Means for Immigrants and Citizens

What else is happening? Well, remember the wall? Build the wall, build the wall.

We heard that mostly during the first Trump campaign. Build the wall got 46.5 billion, with a B, dollars for the border wall construction. It’s going to add lighting, cameras, action detection systems, roads along the U.S.- border, and another 45 billion dedicated to building new detention centers. I don’t know, Trump administration better sell some of their gold card, green cards for 5 million because there’s a lot of money being thrown around at ICE. ICE is happy about this. They got a lot more money.

They have a lot more power. They have a lot more authority. Also the bill, because it’s the government, also tightens some of the asylum eligibility standards and also increases fees.

So if you are outside of the U.S., you need to apply for a visa in the United States. It’s going to cost you more money, $250 as of 2026. And then the I-94 card, the little white card, or the stamp that you get in your passport when you come in as a TN or an L1 or what have you, that currently costs $6.

It’s going to go up to $24, not $25 or $30, $24. Some government person probably got paid a lot of money to come up with that number. It’s going to go up to $24 in 2026.

All right. What does this mean for you? Probably not too much.

If you’re a green card holder, probably not much is going to happen. As a green card holder, you have always been eligible to go into removal or deportation proceedings due to criminal convictions, old offenses, immigration fraud, misrepresentation. That’s run-of-the-mill immigration law 101.

You can also lose your green card if you stay out of the U.S. for too long and you fail to file U.S. income taxes as a resident. Should you worry about this big, beautiful bill? Not really.

I mean, ICE is going to have more enforcement powers and resources, but as long as you’re playing by the rules, you’re not getting arrested, you’re not out of the U.S., you’re paying your taxes, you should be good to go. Now, again, this is broad immigration advice. If you have a specific question, surely reach out.

How about citizens, U.S. citizens? Well, you know, U.S. citizens, it’s the holy grail of immigration. If you’re not born in the U.S., you can naturalize. That means you came in as a work permit holder, green card holder, and then you asked the government to become a U.S. citizen. We love those cases. They’re the happiest time of the U.S. immigration journey. Do you need to worry about this if you’re a naturalized citizen? No. I mean, the government’s saying, hey, you know, we’re going to denaturalize people if they lie down their applications.

Again, has always been in the U.S. Code, federal regulations. The government’s taking a closer look. Would I lose sleep on this one?

Nope. So bigger picture here. What does this bill actually mean?

Well, it means that the Trump administration is serious about immigration. They’re saying it’s going to restore order, secure the border, protect national security. I don’t know.

It’s a whole lot of money being spent. Critics are saying, you know, this threatens due process rights with expedited removal. You know, we’re going to challenge this in the court, blah, blah, blah.

But the takeaway, the Trump administration is not messing around when it comes to unlawful immigration. If you look at the numbers at the border, they are way down than they were a year ago. This administration wants a stricter, faster and more heavily robust immigration enforcement system.

So here’s my advice without giving you advice. It’s just important to stay informed. If you’re here in the U.S., you know what to do. Stay out of trouble. Make sure you’re dotting all of your I’s and crossing all of your T’s. You just want to make sure that you’re in status.

You’re doing all the right things. We have thousands and thousands of clients that we help from all over the world. And when I read the One Big Beautiful Bell, I’m not worried for them at all.

I do think we’re going to see enhanced enforcement in the U.S. if you are here unlawfully. I think there will also be some due process challenges. We’ll see what happens.

But for the most part, want to be the smartest person at your dinner table? Don’t worry too much about the One Big Beautiful Bell with respect to U.S. immigration law. So thank you for joining me today.

I’m Rosanna Berardi. If you love my podcast, Immigration Weekly, make sure you share it with your friends, stay informed, stay balanced, and we’ll see you next time. This was Immigration Weekly with Rosanna Barardi.

Thanks for joining. Be sure to connect with me, Rosanna Berardi, on LinkedIn, or go to our law firm at berardiimmigrationlaw.com. And if you don’t want to miss the latest and greatest, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and share this with your friends.

Subscribe to the Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or YouTube. 

Connect with Rosanna Berardi on LinkedIn