US IMMIGRATION : 'THE TOUGHEST YEAR 2018'

CHILDREN torn from parents, refugees turned away and a relentless stream of changes to immigration regulation and enforcement.

To those who champion President Donald Trump and believe cracking down on immigration translates to better lives for Americans, 2018's breathless headlines were a fulfillment of campaign promises. To many others, they harkened back to dark moments in US history.

''This is our generation's sort of  existential moment,'' said Frank Sharry, head of pro-immigration group America's Voice.

''Are we going to continue to be a nation that practices 'e pluribus unum' and welcomes people from around the world to make this country better? Or we going to shut the door?'' Throughout the 2018, the answer has largely been the latter.

Even as those living in the US illegally remain targets, the administration has sought to redefine what legal immigration look like, too, slowing or halting those seeking to come to to the country for a job offer, through their relationship to a citizen, or to find a home as refugee or a asylee.

''There has been a constant chip, chip, chipping away legal immigration system using every tool of the executive branch,'' said Doug Rand, who worked in the Obama administration before helping found  Boundless Immigration, which helps people navigate the immigration system.

Trump's so called ''travel ban,'' the first iteration of which was unveiled in the president's first week in office, was upheld in June by the US Supreme Court, stopping most visas for residents of Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria, North Korea and Venezuela. [Agencies]

The honor and serving of the latest operational research on US immigration, continues.