The Actions Trump Has Taken on Immigration in His First Days in Office 👉 Updatem News

The executive actions include enlisting the military, resuming border wall construction, and ending birthright citizenship. Lawsuits are already being filed.

Within hours of his inauguration on Monday, President Donald Trump began signing a series of sweeping executive actions to crack down on illegal immigration and increase security at the southern border.

These actions are among many promises Trump made during his 2024 presidential campaign. He told an audience during a Latino Americans for Trump roundtable at his hotel and resort in Miami-Doral, Florida, on Oct. 22 that he believed illegal immigration was a more pressing issue for the nation than inflation and the economy.

“The biggest thing is the border,” Trump said, criticizing the Biden administration’s policies.

On Monday, Trump began signing a barrage of executive orders and actions focused on border security and immigration, calling for a national emergency to mobilize a military response, ending birthright citizenship, and eliminating the CBP One app that many migrants had used to seek asylum in the United States.

These efforts are already spurring legal challenges and will create serious ramifications for the military and thousands seeking pathways to immigration in the United States.

These are the immigration actions that Trump took during his first days in office and the responses to them.

National Border Emergency

Trump declared a “national emergency at the southern border.” He invoked the National Emergencies Act and instructed the military to “take all appropriate action” to help the Department of Homeland Security in “obtaining full operational control” of the U.S.-Mexico border.

He also signed an executive order called “Securing Our Borders” to deter and prevent illegal immigration into the United States.

Actions in both orders include continued border wall construction, anti-drone security, National Guard deployment, “detaining to the maximum extent authorized by law” anyone who illegally crosses the border, and removing any illegal immigrants “who enter or remain in violation of federal law.”

The second order also terminated the CBP One app, which asylum-seekers outside the United States used to schedule appointments at ports of entry.

Another order invokes the Alien Enemies Act to stop “any invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States by a qualifying actor.” The action also designates certain international cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, describing them as “national-security threat[s] beyond that posed by traditional organized crime.” An additional order further clarifies this legal distinction.

The Trump administration also issued a directive to use the term “illegal alien” in place of “undocumented immigrant” or “noncitizen,” a Border Patrol source told The Epoch Times.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a memo on Jan. 20 calling for a “smart border wall” along the southern border. Using cameras, drones, biometrics, and motion sensors, the smart border would likely cut staffing requirements while improving security, the memo states.

Illegal immigrants who murder law enforcement officers or commit capital crimes may also face the death penalty “where possible,” according to another executive order Trump signed.

Military Response and State Protections

In addition to deploying the National Guard, Trump signed an order clarifying the military’s role in border security. It authorizes the defense secretary to deliver a Unified Command Plan to the president for the military to “seal the borders” by repelling “unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.”

Trump also signed an order invoking the Immigration and Nationality Act to give the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State authority to “take all necessary action to immediately repel, repatriate, and remove illegal aliens across the southern border” while assisting state and local governments.

Another order demands that any noncitizens seeking admission to the United States or who are already in the country be “vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” The process will determine if those seeking entry are who they claim to be and whether they pose any security or public safety threats. It will also evaluate all visa programs to prevent entry of “hostile actors” that could threaten the nation’s security, economic, political, cultural, or other national interests.

Refugees and Immigration Status

Trump is also suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program until further refugee entry “aligns with the interests of the United States.”

The order suggests that the program must be suspended to ensure “public safety and national security” and admit only refugees who can “fully and appropriately assimilate” to preserve taxpayer resources. It also grants state and local jurisdictions a role in determining the placement or settlement of any eligible refugees. The suspension takes effect on Jan. 27.

In an action already spurring legal battles and controversy, Trump signed an order ending birthright citizenship.

The 14th Amendment grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the country. Trump’s order interprets that amendment as excluding anyone born from a mother and father who were either unlawfully present in the United States at the time of birth, or were present lawfully but with temporary status, including those using the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on student, work, or tourist visas.

On inauguration day, acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman rescinded guidelines barring federal officers from arresting illegal immigrants at “sensitive places,” including schools, churches, and food banks. The Biden administration released these guidelines in 2021, expanding off-limit locations for arrests from only schools and churches to also include food banks, homeless shelters, and playgrounds.

Changes at DHS, DOJ

There are also swift changes in immigration policy occurring at the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove—one of Trump’s personal lawyers—has launched investigations into sanctuary states and cities that flaunt federal immigration orders. Bove is also reportedly planning to make the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces focus on immigration.

Trump signed an order giving the attorney general, in coordination with the State and Homeland Security departments, authorization to pursue all actions to “prioritize the prosecution of criminal offenses related to the unauthorized entry … in the United States.”

The order also creates Homeland Security Task Forces to remove criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations from the country. The actions are aimed at dismantling cross-border human smuggling and trafficking. The order instructs the secretary of Homeland Security to “ensure the efficient and expedited removal of [all] aliens” who violate federal immigration laws.

Any sanctuary jurisdictions that interfere with immigration law enforcement will no longer receive federal funds, the order states.

Lawsuits Filed

Multiple groups have begun filing lawsuits challenging Trump’s immigration orders.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups filed a lawsuit on Jan. 20 challenging his action on birthright citizenship. A group of states filed two other lawsuits a day later. A federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 23 against Trump’s action, calling his curtailing of birthright citizenship “blatantly unconstitutional.”

The ACLU, along with the New York Civil Liberties Union, sued the Trump administration on Wednesday over its plans to fast-track deportations “without a fair legal process.”

“The Trump administration wants to use this illegal policy to fuel its mass deportation agenda and rip communities apart. Expanding expedited removal would give Trump a cheat code to circumvent due process and the Constitution, and we are again here to fight it,” the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project senior staff attorney Anand Balakrishnan said in a statement.

“People living in communities all across the United States are at risk of being separated from their families and expelled from the country with no legal recourse.”

As in Trump’s first term, more groups are likely to file lawsuits challenging the president’s actions.

Lawmakers’ Responses

Thirteen members of the Senate Democratic caucus led by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Jan. 22 agreeing to vote for legislation addressing the country’s “pressing border security and immigration needs.”

“We see a need for strong, common-sense, and fair immigration enforcement accompanied by the necessary resources to effectively secure our borders,” the group wrote. “The American people are counting on us to find bipartisan solutions to our nation’s priorities.”

The letter’s cosigners include Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).

In the House, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) wants his members to take a centrist approach to immigration.

Some progressives in the House reportedly said they lack clear guidance to give their constituents and are frustrated that immigrants in their districts may fear Trump’s initiatives.

Republicans are praising Trump’s efforts, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who celebrated the House passing the Laken Riley Act on Wednesday.

“It is time to secure the border and end the invasion,” Cruz wrote in a post on X. “Republicans are taking the American People’s mandate to secure the border seriously. We will get this done.”

Brad Jones, Sam Dorman, and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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