Trump Signs Actions to Deport Migrants, Restrict Citizenship
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump signed sweeping new executive actions designed to crack down on illegal border crossings and target undocumented migrants already in the US.
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Trump declared a national emergency at the border, directed the Pentagon to deploy additional individuals to the border, and sought to end “catch and release,” the policy by which migrants are released while awaiting a hearing on their asylum status.
The president signed a proclamation to end the asylum process, which officials say would allow the immediate removal of those in the country already awaiting a court hearing. The administration will look to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy that requires those seeking asylum to stay in Mexico before their immigration court date, direct federal agencies to resume construction of the border wall, and declare gangs and cartels involved in human smuggling as terrorist organizations. Trump, responding to a question, said the order could result in US military operations in Mexico.
Trump also said he would order immigration raids across US cities in coming days, but did not want to to reveal details before they were launched.
The new president is also seeking to end automatic birthright citizenship for children of people not in the country legally, and suspend refugee admissions for the next six months. And he’s expected to offer new authorities to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers to carry out deportations.
In total, the 10 border-related executive orders represent a dramatic change to immigration policy and will usher in new limits to both legal and illegal immigration. The president’s plans were described by an incoming Trump Administration official who briefed on the condition of anonymity.
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Court Challenges
As of Monday, US Customs and Border Protection has discontinued the CBP One app’s functionality that previously allowed migrants to provide advance information and book appointments at eight ports of entry along the southern border. All scheduled appointments have also been canceled, the agency said in a statement on its website. The app had offered 1,450 daily appointments for asylum seekers trying to gain entry.
Trump’s efforts are likely to face immediate court challenges, and actual implementation could prove difficult. That’s particularly true of his efforts to end birthright citizenship and an outright ban of the asylum system.
But the incoming administration is hopeful that the sheer scope of the efforts will deter illegal migration. And Trump on Monday said he believed his birthright order was on “good grounds.”
“It’s ridiculous. We’re the only country in the world that does this with birthright,” Trump said.
The actions are also intended to free up additional government resources and capabilities to focus on the border. Trump also declared an emergency during his first term and ordered billions of dollars previously allocated to the Department of Defense be redirected to fund border wall construction, after lawmakers repeatedly blocked efforts to secure funding through traditional legislative means.
That order was rescinded by Joe Biden just after he took over the presidency in 2021.
Incoming Trump administration officials have not detailed what the national emergency declaration this time will entail, but said he is planning to deploy both active duty and National Guard troops to the southwest border and will order completion of his long-promised border wall.
Trump also moved to designate the gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as terrorist organizations, as well as Mexican cartels responsible for smuggling drugs across the border. Mexican cartels generate billions of dollars annually, dominating drug trafficking into the U.S. and engaging in human smuggling.
The designation could impose tougher financial penalties and legal consequences in the U.S. However, it might jeopardize relations with Mexico, a critical trading partner, which are already tense after Trump threatened to raise tariffs.
Several international drug trafficking organizations and gangs, including MS-13, have previously been declared Transnational Criminal Organizations and sanctioned by the Department of Treasury. One of the most high-profile cartel leaders, Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as “El Mayo” who co-led the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, is in custody in the US.
Birthright Citizenship
Trump’s birthright citizen order challenges a long-held interpretation of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution — adopted in 1868 after the Civil War to clarify the status of formerly enslaved people — which is read as giving citizenship to any child born on US soil.
That interpretation has been challenged before and in an 1898 decision, the Supreme Court found that an individual born to Chinese immigrants who had permanent residence in the US could not be denied citizenship. Critics of birthright citizenship argue it should not apply to the children of illegal immigrants or to so-called “birth tourism,” in which people travel to the US toward the end of their pregnancy to ensure their child is born a US citizen.
During the campaign, Trump said he would direct federal agencies to require that at least one parent be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their children to automatically become US citizens, and ensure the children of parents in the country illegally would not be issued passports, Social Security numbers, or be eligible for certain taxpayer-funded benefits.
Refugee Suspension
The six-month suspension of refugee resettlement furthers Trump’s effort during his first administration when he cut the cap for those fleeing persecution to the US from 110,000 to 15,000, the lowest refugee admission ceiling in US history. That move was highly criticized by migration advocates.
In the last fiscal year, the US resettled over 100,000 refugees, the largest annual number in three decades, the Biden announcement reported. Most of the refugees came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Syria and Ukraine, likely due to ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises in these regions, according to data collected by the Refugee Processing Center.
--With assistance from María Paula Mijares Torres, Stephanie Lai and Ellen M. Gilmer.
(Updates with Trump signing actions)
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