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.
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.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.”
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.”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.
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.
Changes at DHS, DOJ
There are also swift changes in immigration policy occurring at the departments of Justice and Homeland Security.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.
Lawsuits Filed
Multiple groups have begun filing lawsuits challenging Trump’s immigration orders.“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.”
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.