Trump has started cracking down on immigration, enlisting the military and testing the law

President Trump’s moves on immigration within hours of taking office are the headlines of an effort to roll back four years of policies put in place by the Biden administration and retool an agenda that will raise the bottom line. the role of the United States in the world. a sanctuary for refugees and migrants.

In a series of executive orders he signed late Monday, Mr. Trump moved to seal the nation’s borders to immigrants and crack down on undocumented immigrants already in the U.S., in part. in the political unrest that included a declaration of emergency for the country to send in the military. to borders and proposals to cut citizenship for children of non-citizens.

While some of the orders may face stiff legal challenges and may be difficult or unenforceable, the directive sent an unmistakable message that Mr. Trump is serious about making good on his frequent promises to a campaign to seal the border, and to raise resistance. – an immigration agenda that he has made central to his political identity.

“With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” Mr. Trump said from the Capitol Rotunda after his swearing-in. “All illegal entry will be stopped immediately and the process will begin to return millions and millions of criminals back to where they came from.”

Minutes after Mr. Trump took the oath of office, his administration shut down a government program created by his predecessor that allowed immigrants to secure nominations for entry into the United States by through the legal port of entry through the application. Cutting the program, known as CBP One, put about 30,000 immigrants who were already slated to enter the United States into limbo, and said it will now be more difficult.

Hours later in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump moved to crack down on asylum seekers, essentially sealing the border against those seeking asylum in the United States. The Trump administration has said that illegal border crossings pose a threat to national security and public health. Instead of talking about specific disease threats, Mr. Trump said only that immigrants have not provided border officials with “full health information,” which raises public health concerns.

He declared a national emergency on the US-Mexico border to allow him to bypass Congress and unlock federal funding for border wall construction and other enforcement efforts. Mr. Trump appears to have gone further than having troops support border officials in the construction. He also signed an executive order that gave the military a clear role in immigration enforcement and directed the Defense Department to develop a plan “to seal the border and maintain national sovereignty, integrity the territory and the defense of the United States by repelling any form of attack.”

The directive would conflict with an 1870 law called the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally limits the use of regular federal troops for local police purposes.

“It’s very dangerous and misguided,” said Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, who added that the command ordered the military to manage the border and not as a matter of law enforcement. but as a full military campaign.

Mr. Trump took the step even though the border is now secure, and crossings have decreased significantly after the Biden administration took major steps to limit immigration.

Still, the executive action, which Mr. Trump has eyed in recent years, is an attempt to make good on promises to curb immigration and mass deportations.

In another order issued on Monday, Mr Trump announced that his administration would no longer take the children of undocumented people into citizenship, signaling his intention to ignore constitutional guarantees of citizenship. . The order ordered the federal agency to stop issuing citizenship documents to such children, starting within 30 days.

The move would be a significant change to the 157-year-old 14th Amendment, and within hours it sparked a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Mr. Trump cannot revoke birthright citizenship on his own. All changes to the Constitution require a majority vote in Congress, and then approval from three-quarters of the states. But denying documents to the children of some immigrants means they can be barred from using public services, which can have the same effect as disenfranchisement.

“What the Trump administration is preparing is much more than immigration policy,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-immigration think tank. “Pushing back 150 years of settled law and making strong progress against the attack on birthright citizenship, for example, seeks to change America’s future by taking this country back.”

In front of thousands of supporters at Capital One Arena on Monday, he signed an executive order overturning former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s immigration policy. . Another reinstated Mr. Trump’s efforts to withhold federal funds from local agencies that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mr Trump is likely to issue more orders on immigration in the coming days, but there have been signs of major changes to the system in the hours since his inauguration.

At the El Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, dozens of immigrants stared at their phone screens trying to check if their nominations were still valid only to see a disconcerting message: “Nomination canceled already exists.”

“I was shocked,” said Maura Hernandez, who came with her four young children and had an appointment Tuesday.

“I don’t know what will happen to us,” he said, adding that they had fled their homes in the midst of instability.

Just one aspect of Mr. It’s Trump’s Day 1.

In an executive order, Mr. Trump raised the possibility of a travel ban, similar to his first term. He ordered his administration to take 60 days to identify countries where visitors and visa applicants cannot be properly vetted and who pose a national security risk. In these cases, the administration should consider whether to impose a full or partial ban on people from these countries entering the United States.

Mr. Trump has suspended refugee resettlement and enhanced vetting of those seeking to enter the United States from overseas. He signed an executive order to end “arrest and release,” which refers to the practice of releasing immigrants into the United States to await trial after they cross the border. The details of that order, like most of Mr. Trump’s actions, remain unclear.

Mr. Trump has also designated drug cartels as terrorist organizations, enhancing his administration’s ability to target them.

The Biden administration moved in June to block asylum for immigrants crossing the country illegally. The order has stopped there and the number of border has decreased significantly in recent months. Border agents used the order to quickly return immigrants who were apprehended after crossing without permission.

“All illegal aliens seeking to enter the United States should be returned now,” Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s deputy chief of staff and architect of his anti-immigration agenda, wrote in the Monday on social media. “Anyone who enters the United States without authorization faces prosecution and deportation.”

Mr. Trump also said he would reinstate the so-called Stay in Mexico policy, which forced immigrants to wait in the country until their immigration cases were due in court. The policy was central to Mr Trump’s first border crackdown. The Trump administration, however, needs to work with Mexico to fully roll out the policy.

In a press conference on Monday morning, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico’s foreign minister, said that his country does not accept the return of the policy of Remaining in Mexico, and has no Mexico is obligated to process asylum applications in the United States if they are available. However, he said the country would find a way to work “in the best possible way”.

Paulina Villegas contributed reporting from Tijuana, Mexico, Emiliano Rodríguez Mega from Mexico City and Eric Schmitt from Washington.