Trump’s immigration executive orders: What to know

MAfter being sworn into office, President Donald Trump laid out a series of tough measures he is taking to stop border crossings between ports of entry and begin deporting some of the millions of people in the United States without authorization. Those policy changes were expected to begin rolling in quickly in the first hours and days of his second term after a campaign in which Trump promised to launch the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history.

Trump said Monday he would declare a national emergency at the border, which would free up military funding to build more sections of a border wall, support operations to stop border crossings and “send troops” to the southern border to “repel the catastrophic invasion of our country.”

“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country against threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I will do,” Trump said.

Trump also said he would reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy that requires people seeking asylum to wait outside the United States while their cases are processed — a move that would require cooperation from the Mexican government. Trump also promised to designate some drug cartels “foreign terrorist organizations” and use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to pressure state and local police to arrest and help deport foreign-born people in the United States illegally. He is also expected to launch his latest attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, which is currently protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The impact on the border of Trump’s inauguration was immediate. Moments after Trump was formally sworn in, people waited at border crossings in Mexico reportedly had their asylum appointments canceled by Customs and Border Protection, and received notices that the federal program that used a phone app called CBP One to set up appointments for asylum seekers was now canceled. The Biden administration started this program to create a more orderly system for people to seek asylum and discourage migrants from crossing between ports of entry and surrendering to Border Patrol agents to have their claims processed.

Many of Trump’s actions are likely to be challenged in court, as they were during his first term. When Trump declared a similar national emergency on the border in 2019 to justify the use of military funds to build a border wall, the courts blocked the move, saying a military construction project had to be in support of a military deployment.

Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center’s Freedom and National Security Program, says Trump is overreaching in his use of emergency powers, especially since the number of people crossing the border illegally has been declining in recent months. “This is an abuse of emergency powers for the same reason it was before,” says Goitein, “Emergency powers are not meant to solve long-standing problems that Congress has the power to solve.”