What Trump’s executive orders on immigration seek to do
- End birthright citizenship for future children born to mothers who are in the United States unlawfully or temporarily unless the child s father is here legally and permanently
- Direct federal agencies to identify countries that do not provide sufficient information on their nationals and to bar those nationals from entry to the U.S.
- Send the military to the border by declaring a national emergency
- Halt all refugee admissions into the United States until policy aligns with U.S. interests
- Designate cartels and migrant gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations
- Restrict federal funds from sanctuary cities and potentially take legal action against them
- Require immigrants unlawfully in the United States to register and be fingerprinted
- End the CBP One program and the parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans
- Deny public benefits to unauthorized immigrants
- Reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a number of immigration-related executive orders, including one that declared a national emergency at the border. During a signing at the Oval Office on Monday, he formally announced the steps.
The executive orders come after Trump pledged during the campaign to begin mass deportations as soon as he took office.
During his inauguration address, Trump declared that illegal entrance would be immediately stopped and that the process of repatriating millions of criminal aliens to their home countries would be initiated.
The immigration system has already started to change. According to a statement posted on the Customs and Border Protection website, migrants can no longer utilize the official app CBP One to submit their information and make appointments at ports of entry along the southwest border.
The notification also stated that existing appointments made via the app had been canceled. On Monday, pop-up alerts in various languages informed app users their CBP One appointments were no longer valid. An executive order terminating the program was signed by President Trump a few hours later.
Immigration advocacy organizations filed a motion for an emergency status conference in the D.C. District Court to challenge the decision to terminate CBP One.
Regardless of whether Trump implements new border regulations, the CBP’s termination According to Lee Gelernt, the attorney for the ACLU in the case, “one appointment process means there is now no way for anyone, even for families, to seek asylum at the border.”
Thousands of appointments were probably canceled. In the two years since the agency started utilizing the app for appointment scheduling, more than 936,000 people had done so. CBP processed about 44,000 asylum applicants who used the app to submit their information in December alone.
Under the Biden administration, CBP One’s operations were extended to help with migrant asylum appointments as the number of persons attempting to enter the southern border increased.
Trump also imposed a two-year ban on a website that allows Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants with sponsors in the United States to apply for parole into the nation. Over the previous two years, that program has brought over 800,000 migrants to the United States from those nations.
Trump’s declaration of a state of emergency permits the Defense Department to send the National Guard and soldiers to the border. The number of troops that would be sent was not disclosed by White House officials.
The troops would assist Department of Homeland Security staff with logistics, including as securing detention space and transporting migrants, according to the presidential action. The wording was consistent with the Constitution, which forbids the military from arresting foreign nationals in order to enforce domestic law within the United States.
Additionally, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to refrain from recognizing U.S.-born children as citizens if the father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of the child’s birth and the mother was in the country illegally. The order essentially aims to abolish birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the Constitution to children born in the United States, irrespective of the immigration status of their parents.
Additionally, the order states that if a child is born to a mother who was temporarily or legally in the United States and the father was not a citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of the child’s birth, the federal government should not recognize the kid as a citizen of the United States.
Children born to lawful permanent residents, or “green card holders,” are entitled to citizenship, according to the decree.
The U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,” has been interpreted to require birthright citizenship.
The Trump administration said in the executive order limiting birthright citizenship that a Supreme Court ruling from 1857 had misconstrued the Constitution. Legal challenges to the order are likely to argue that the Trump administration must alter the U.S. Constitution by obtaining a two-thirds vote from Congress, which is a very high standard.
Any attempt by Trump to eliminate birthright citizenship will be challenged in court by Democrats and certain legal organizations.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote on X that ending birthright citizenship is unconstitutional and anti-America, promising to oppose this un-American executive action.
Trump’s campaign pledge to increase deportations was made possible by another executive action.
It gives federal agencies instructions to find nations that don’t give enough information on their inhabitants so that the US can screen and vet them. Following that, entry into the United States would be prohibited for citizens of those nations. The order directs the federal government to determine the number of citizens from those nations who have entered the United States since Biden assumed office, going beyond the travel restriction imposed during Trump’s first term that prohibited immigration from 13 particular countries.
Additionally, that directive gives the Trump administration the authority to deport foreigners who use their right to free speech to criticize the United States. It gives federal authorities instructions to make sure that foreigners who are already in the country do not harbor animosity toward its people, culture, government, institutions, or basic ideals.
The Department of Homeland Security has been instructed under an executive order to create a registry for undocumented immigrants and mandate that they be fingerprinted. Additionally, it restricts federal funds and may take legal action against so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with ICE.
By “removing promptly all aliens who enter or remain in violation of Federal law,” as stated in the executive order, a separate directive seeks to put an end to the practice known as “catch and release.”
Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement still lacked sufficient jail space, migrants were released after crossing the border despite Trump’s pledge during his first term to stop the practice.
The Remain in Mexico policy, which permitted Trump to prevent migrants of all nationalities from entering the United States from Mexico during his first term until they had an appointment for asylum, is also being reinstated by the Trump administration. The Trump administration took the decision without consulting Mexico, according to Mexico’s foreign minister.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her Cabinet members voiced their disapproval of Trump’s proposal to resurrect the policy and his unilateral move to force migrants trying to enter the United States back into northern Mexico before of his inauguration.
They made this decision all by themselves. They have the right to do so if they are capable of doing so. This fact does not necessarily apply to us. Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente stated, “We don’t share it.”
The federal government was also directed to proceed with the border wall construction via an executive order. Until the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program realigns with American interests, another order prohibited refugee resettlement in the United States indefinitely.
Additionally, the administration is focusing on narcotics cartels and what it refers to as “migrant gangs,” which include Tren de Aragua and MS-13.
In his inaugural address, Trump stated, “We will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations under the orders I signed today.”
Anyone who assists or works with the cartels would be prohibited under the classification, and anyone who supports the cartels in any way might be charged by the federal government with giving material support to terrorists. Additionally, it would enable the administration to place known members on the terrorist watchlist, which would enable them to be detained, prevented from entering the country by plane, or prevented from entering the country by land just for belonging to the group.
According to Trump, “I will order our government to eradicate all foreign gangs and criminal and criminal networks that bring devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities, by using the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement.”
Within ten days of the signing, another executive order instructed the Department of Defense to create a plan to seal the borders and protect American sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security by thwarting invasions by illegal mass migration, drug trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.